Travelling Tanners

FA Cup day arrives with a trip to our old friends, Dulwich Hamlet. Our hosts finished fourth from bottom last year so made their way back to the Ryman Premier, and now enter the cup in the first qualifying round.

Kick off at 3pm. Good luck fellas.

Westfield 3 - 1 Tanners

For the second game in a row, Leatherhead start slowly and get bullied in a game that ends in disappointment.  Westfield came into this game with an average of three goals scored and were well on their way to maintaining this after just five minutes when, yet again, we hesitate in defence and allow a shot from six yards.

 

Any envy I had about those in attendance drifted away on the stroke of half time, when the ref awarded a dubious penalty and we went into the break 2-0 down.  Better than 3-0, I suppose.

 

The ref was keen to even things up and awarded an equally surprising penalty to us; Fitzgerald stepping up to put it away to make it 2-1 with 12 minutes to go.  Any hope of gasping an unlikely point drifted away when the hosts grabbed a stoppage time goal.

 

Onto Dulwich then…

Travelling Tanners

Leatherhead aim to bounce back from their disappointing defeat with a win against Westfield today. No doubt there'll be an extra incentive for the home side to win, with the return of their ex- manager.

Westfield are unbeaten so far this season with an opening draw against Rayners Lane and a 4-3 win over Uxbridge. Including the FA Cup, they've scored 9 goals this season… and they're a bogey team… gulp…

Kick off at 12.30. Good luck fellas!

Tanners 2 - 3 Hartley Wintney

I had a strange premonition while queuing for my chips, that this was not going to be a great game and despite a late rally the vinegar didn't lie.

The first half was a complete shambles and we were bossed around for almost all of it.  It did look like we had managed to score against the run of play when we pumped the ball to the far post where our player held off the defender and keeper to turn the ball across goal for it to be headed in from close range.  The ref saw something and blew for a foul.

Then it all went south, fast.  A free kick was sent in and a free header made it 1-0.  Soon after we save a shot but were not alive to the rebound and it was deftly curled into the top left hand corner.  2-0.  

Finally a long ball looked to be well marshalled by our defender until he was barged off of the ball.  The ref had been quick to protect the visitors players for such a challenge, but let this one go and it was fired in from range.

Half time and the best entertainment came in the form of Escape to the Country.  The couple appeared to have bucked the usual trend and chosen one of their first houses they'd seen.  If Property One could hold off the challenge of The Mystery House, could we come back from 3-0 down...?

We certainly looked more positive and just on the hour we pulled one back.  A powerful header from a corner flew past the 'keeper who was getting dog's abuse for not commanding his area better from his own defenders.

Then on 82 minutes a low cross was tapped in to make it 2-3 and interesting.  Seven minutes of additional time was added and hopes were raised.

The equaliser could have come from two headers.  One was denied by brave defending and the other scuffed wide.  

Disappointing.  Probably more disappointing than being drawn away to Dulwich Hamlet in the First Qualifying Round of the FA Cup which is played next week...

Hartley Wintney are coming!

Storm Lilian has made her presence felt this morning with some heavy rain.  I hope not enough to spoil our return to the Grove for the first time this season.

Our guests got off to the perfect start in the league, beating Guernsey, but lost to Larkhall Athletic in the FA Cup.

Kick off at 3pm.  See you there!

Sevenoaks Town 0 - 2 Tanners

Perhaps the weight of expectation of playing with gold number proved too much for our hosts, as Leatherhead make it safely through to the next round.  It took 10 minues or so to settle but once we did, we restricted Sevenoaks Town to just a couple of chances while building up a comfortable lead.

 

I came into this game thinking I would be happy with a draw and the opening 10 minutes did little to persuade me otherwise but soon after the game was made safe with two quick fires goals. 

 

Date opened the scoring on 18 minutes when he bounced on a cross fired low into the box for a simple tap in.  We were perhaps a little fortunate here as the ref, who failed to count out ten yards properly also failed to see an obvious handball in the build up.

 

Just two minutes later we doubled our lead when Haigh stormed into the right side of the box.  Despite being pulled back by his arm by the defender (ref missed it) he managed to fire a powerful shot into the top left corner.  2-0.

 

Sevenoaks hit the bar twice in quick succession in the second half, but that was really all I saw from them.  We thought we had won a penalty but our player was booked for diving.  Overall, the half showed how we could control the game and hold onto a 2-0 lead.

 

Onto Monday and the draw then…

Travelling Tanners

The dream of an FA Cup run starts today with a trip to Sevenoaks. For some the New Ground Klaxon will be sounding, but I remember going there for a hastily arranged friendly a few years back.

Our hosts play at the same level in the Isthmian South East League and got a win on their opening fixture, against Burgess Hill.

Kick off at 3pm. See you there!

Southall 1 - 1 Tanners

Tanners walk away from Southall with a credible draw with Leatherhead and Southall having their share of missed opportunities.  Leatherhead dominated in the first half with Southall showing a strong resurgence in the second.

 

On 30 minutes, Leatherhead's Deondre Date finishes off a swift breakaway move with a precise close-range shot to put Tanners ahead.  Dreams of the perfect start to the season faded when Southall capitalised on a powerful run by their striker to score the equalizer from close range.

 

Southall had several chances to secure the win in the dying minutes but failed to convert.  Relief and onto the FA Cup… 

Travelling Tanners

Leatherhead make their way to Burnham for a tricky start to the season.

Our hosts finished only three points behind us last season and were our opening opponents in the playoffs. Too early for a six pointer?

Kick off at 3pm. Good luck fellas.

Tanners 4 - 1 Crystal Palace

Leatherhead put on an entertaining display to run out 4-1 against our "Premier League" opponents.  For a while, the visiting manager must have been quite satisfied with the lesson his young players were learning while playing against more experienced players but surely the scoreline must have taken a lot away from any warm glow he was feeling.

 

I don't recall our hosts threatening much while we showed a lot of pace and creativity down the wings.  15 minutes in and we took the lead.  A cross was headed into the path of Huckle who was composed enough to allow the ball to bounce and find his spot.  How often would a shot have found the midriff of the 'keeper in the past..?  Despite some good chances (notably where we should have received a penalty for obvious shirt pulling in the box), the half finished 1-0.

 

We were told that Crystal Palace had left most of their best players on the bench for the first half so expected a very different second half… which we got but not from Palace.  Leatherhead went on to score three more.

 

Our second goal came from a low cross on the left and Date tried a deft flick to beat the 'keeper; the ball struck a defender to ensure the deflected shot well and truly beat the 'keeper.  Shortly afterwards a penalty was finally awarded for a foul in the box.  It looked harsh but given the gaff in the first half we took it and put it away calmly.  The fourth goal came from a corner where Palace failed to clear properly and the ball fell to Hedley who volleyed it into the top corner.

 

Palace did pull one back towards the end but the damage was well and truly done.  Not a night for a Leatherhead fan with dual affiliation to chose to where his Palace shirt…

 

Onto Saturday for our first league game and a trip to Southall (Burnham)…

Crystal Palace are coming!

I have been a bit tardy with updates over the summer, due to work commitments and a rather excellent trip to the Olympics, but I am back in time for the final friendly of the season.  It has been a mixed bag in terms of results and tonight is probably more about the occasion than the final score as we welcome Crystal Palace to the Grove tonight.

 

The Palace official site has their next game as being Nantes away, but no doubt a talented bunch of U21s or something will be on show.  We have a new signing upfront to give a run out to, also.

 

Kick off 7.45.  See you there!