Welcome to The Lip. Leatherhead FC's alternative "unofficial" website. Up the Tanners!
For the 100-150 supporters that made the trip to Uxbridge, nothing says sorry than offering discounted travel to 15-20 for the battle for seventh place.
To be fair, twelve games ago Hartley Wintney occupied the coveted fifth spot and I thought they would be the side to beat on the last day. It's not to be for either side, this year.
Kick off at 3pm. Good luck fellas.
I didn't go to this game. Today I celebrate 21 years of marriage and I got to this milestone by picking my battles. Giving up a Bank Holiday to watch a game that was, sadly, a dead rubber was not the hill to die on.
Those that did attend, saw an entertaining half with a clinical late performance from Ruben who was afforded a rare start. This was not before Binfield took the lead and Lukas pulled off a Le Tissier-esque volley after flicking the ball up in the box.
Then Ruben scored on 59, 89 and 93 minutes. All three goals were scored just to the right of the goal and if there was a perfect hat-trick award for scoring through the 'keepers legs, near post and rounding him and rolling it into an open net, he would nailed this rare accolade.
Onto Saturday and the last game of the season… the trip to Hartley Wintney.
Book your partner a surprise trip away this May Bank Holiday – anywhere but Uxbridge, Ascot or Hanwell – as we are now free from play-off duties. While it is still mathematically possible, this defeat signals the end of our distant hopes of making it. Even with a win, it would have been tough given that everyone else won.
If drums were goals, South Park would have been 3-1 up at the start of the game. The local kids arrived with the kind of drum that wouldn't be out of place beating out Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. While a large travelling contingent set up South Park's largest home crowd of the season, the game started with dead-rubber atmosphere.
Leatherhead gave the travelling support something to cheer about first. An attack down the middle fed in George Hedly, who sent in a low ball into the middle for Tyler to have a free shot into the bottom corner and score his first goal. 1-0.
We could have doubled our lead when a free kick on the edge of the box found George unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box, but he could only turn it into the 'keeper's path. A goal could have finished off the home side, but at 1-0 they were a threat.
The threat got worse when Cameron Black saw red for a rash tackle. With both feet off the ground, and while only one foot made contact, he was not in control so a fair decision. Leatherhead tucked into a back three, which allowed space down the wings to cross and one found a player unmarked to head home. 1-1.
The second half and Leatherhead regrouped and applied themselves well to get a winner and we nearly got it when Lukas fired in a powerful shot and the 'keeper palmed it onto the post. South Park then charged down the other end, sent in a similar cross, and another header made it 1-2. In the dying minutes, South Park broke free and lobbed Harvey as he came out to narrow the angle. 1-3.
Onto Monday and the visit of Binfield to round off the festive weekend of football.
For 89 minutes, Leatherhead held our guests and seemed to be heading for penalties, but a swift and decisive move finished off our hopes of reaching the final in the dying minutes.
Walton & Hersham turned up in confident mood and stroked the ball around from side to side along their back four, for the opening 15 minutes. This pendulum motion must have hypnotised our players, as a sudden long ball caught us sleeping and it created a one-on-one chance that was expertly finished. 0-1.
Those who feared it would get worse did not have to wait long to see us draw level. We won a free kick on the edge of the box and Fitzgerald slotted a powerful and low shot through the wall and into the side of the net. 1-1.
At this point Leatherhead really grew in confidence and looked to score another. However, our guests proved that, yet again, they could on the break and scored another to make it 1-2. Momentum remained on our side, and we scored just three minutes later from one of the many dangerous corners we took this match. 2-2 and half time.
Walton & Hersham started the second half like they meant business and I feared we would be overrun, but somehow we weathered the storm and created our own problems for them to solve. As time ticked down, we began to consider which end would host the penalties, but in the 89th minute, another swift move was finished off from a tight angle to make it 2-3. We responded with one last Kingstonian-esque attack, but it was snuffed out, and our overcommitted attack could not respond to the breakaway, allowing them to notch up a flattering fourth.
So, it's back to concentrating on the league then. The wrong Villa did all the scoring last night as Hanwell could only draw 0-0 with Ascot, which hands a point to both which makes them just that bit harder to catch in the last three games…