Tanners 2 - 1 Crawley Down Gatwick

Leatherhead come back from a goal down to take all three points today at The Grove.  Goals from Draycott and Griffiths get us back to winning ways.

No action until Saturday where we play Dulwich Hamandchipsonshoulders in the Trophy.  Get there early to drink cans of drink outside anyone?

 

Crawley Down are coming

Just suffered my first earthquake here. No one took their eyes from their beer here... but will the earth move for Leatherhead tomorrow?
Kick off at 3pm at the Grove. Good luck fellas.

Travelling Tanners

2am here so the jet lag is in full swing. As is our league campaign again as we travel to Hythe Town tonight...
Kick off 7:45.

Lewes 1 - 2 Tanners

After our exit from the FA cup I did not see this result coming.  Travelling away to Lewes with league fixtures piling up I had a fear we wouldn’t be up for it but a good display saw us over the line.

Lewes took the lead but goals in either side of half time set us up into the next round.  Draw today on the radio.

 

Travelling Tanners

The FA Trophy and I don’t see eye to eye.  I can’t get excited about it but now it represents one of our last hoorays in cup football this season.  Should be quite a good gate though.  Lewes are a well supported club who are no doubting looking to make us feel welcome.

If you love Lewes’ great football posters see ours here.  Directions can be found here.  Kick off at 3pm.

Let's see what you could've won...

A home tie against Canvey Island COULD have been the Fourth Qualifying Round  in the FA Cup.  The side sit in the bottom half of the Ryman Premier. 

Oh, what might have been…

Biggleswade 5 - 1 Tanners

Fairy dust one week.  Peter Pan the next but today The Lost Boys were put out of the FA Cup in emphatic style by our hosts Biggleswade.

Leatherhead played a defensive game.  Bradbrook asked to work alone and it would seemed we had learnt nothing from our trip to Binfield.  There two centre backs could marshal the exposed Bradbrook as the long obvious aerial balls were pumped in.  Today was no different.

After some opening scares we held our own but we looked under par.  Then on the stroke of half time Biggleswade got the opener and it was only a few minutes after the restart they made it 2-0.

Only then was Bradbrook allowed some more advanced support in the form of Draycott and it paid off.  Draycott scored to put us in with a shout but then it fell apart.  Biggleswade made it three within a minute and heads fell.

Two goals in the last three minutes confirmed today as a disaster but not many Leatherhead fans were there to see it.  The writing seemed on the wall long before the fourth and fifth goal went in.

Good luck to Biggleswade.  On to Lewes in The Trophy then…

 

 

Travelling Tanners

The big one tomorrow.  An away trip in the third qualifying round to a ground we have visited before.  Biggleswade.  In a recent radio interview their manager is quite happy with the draw.  They have played 22 FA Cup games at their ground and only lost one.  There within the remaining 21 lies a hidden story of a late Kev Terry equaliser and a win for Leatherhead in the replay.

We have Bradbrook back after being coaxed away by a Secret Sheikh deployed by Walton & Hersham perhaps.  He spent the week in Dubai.

Directions can be found here.  Kick off at 3pm.  See you there!

Tanners 0 - 2 Walton & Hersham

Perhaps with the prize that it is at stake today’s result is not a surprise.  Not to take anything away from our visitors there was something in the air tonight with some mentioning about 70% of the work rate we have seen in recent weeks.

 

A quick goal sealed our fate with a second making it all more than comfortable.  A forgettable game.

On to Biggleswade though…

Walton & Hersham are coming

Walton & Hersham are coming to play in the Robert Dyas League Cup.  Robert Dyas, what a store.  Full of storage and filing gadgets that prevent you from forgetting things.

Kick off at 7.45.  Good luck fellas.

Tanners 4 - 0 Harlow

Tinkerbell was 20 minutes late arriving to the Grove with her bucket of fairy dust as Leatherhead failed to show the dominance the score line suggests.  However when it came there was no stopping the hosts.

Kev Terry’s opener was stunning.  A fine volley on the edge of the box that got us on our way.  This time last week when we were struggling to get the ball into dangerous areas a short corner would have been met with groans.  Today it paid off.  A flick on allowed Bradbrook to ghost in for a free header and notch up another goal for him.  Another sprinkle when Harlow believed they had scored only for it to be ruled out for offside.

Kev Terry went to get on the score sheet again with yet another volley and Burchell joined the party to jfinish off an impressive day.

All in all an entertaining game with Ibrahim being asked some questions too.  So Leatherhead come out smiling and let’s hope for more of the same with the visit of Walton & Hersham on Wednesday (providing Rod has organised another game) and then Biggleswade…

Harlow are coming

FA Trophy action tomorrow and the visit of Ryman Div 1 North opponents Harlow Town.  They sit in 10^th but have outscored us with an impressive 30 goals to their name.  That is better than any team in our league.

Could be a mixed bag.  The team has taken some knocks in recent weeks and the FA Cup waits in the wings so on the one hand I can see this being low on the priorities.  Then on the other hand a couple of new faces enter the mix for a chance for them to impress.  Only one way to find out…

Kick off at 3pm.  Good luck fellas.

Hastings 2 - 2 Leatherhead

An outstanding performance tonight was rewarded with a well-earned point away at Hastings.  A side crippled by injury sees a few new faces slot into the side.  Obersteller (from Welling I believe) and Plean bolstering the side.

It started well too.  Despite some early pressure Kev Terry’s pin point cross found an inform Bradbrook to put us in the lead.  Lucky to have him on the pitch as the car he was in had a flat tyre on the way to the ground.

Hastings are having a good run themselves and managed get one back by lashing the loose ball into the top corner at close range.  1-1 at half time.

Second half and Leatherhead really started to get into their stride.  It was unfortunate then that Ibrahim was adjudged to trip a Hastings player in the box and concede a penalty which was duly dispatched.  2-1 to the hosts.

It looked like our play was not going to be reward.  A header saved cleared off the line and a long range effort well saved from Semakula just two instances of our dominance.

Then when it looked like it was going to be tough justice Bradbrook struck again.  He managed to turned superbly onto Eisa's pass, before unleashing a 20 yard shot that shot past the home shot stopper.

A good point against a good side with promotion ambitions of their own.  Onto Harlow in the Trophy…

Biggleswade Town Away

So.  Calor Southern Premier league opposition awaits us in the next round.  They dispatched Chelmsford City in the last round 2-0 so a tough draw.

Rod will update the official site with confirmation of the dates soon…

Travelling Tanners are coming...

Well, it’s been a busy weekend for someone.  Tomorrow Leatherhead travel to Hastings for a Monday night fixture.  Something of a first for me and perhaps this is what lead to the confusion.  Hastings sit above us in the league and, while losing to Merstham will be a low point for them, they pose a real threat.  Directions can be found here kick off at 7.45.

Then onto the Walton & Hersham League Cup fixture which seemed to be slotted in on the Wednesday night.  That has now been re-scheduled for Wednesday 9th October at Fetcham Grove. Kick off 7.45pm.

That means the next game at the Grove is against Harlow Town in the FA Trophy on Saturday, 5th October.

In all seriousness, we know Rod and his programme collection give up their time for free and do a bloody good job BUT if you want to join the full public enquiry please follow the hashtag #rodhasmuckedup.

Binfield 1 - 2 Tanners

First of all, what a club Binfield is.  £6 to watch a competitive team in a friendly atmosphere.  A credit to the game.  While our hosts were warm and friendly we were cold and disjointed.  A traffic accident on the Kent border meant that several members the team would be late and two more arriving during the second half.

Obviously this unsettled us.  Tait and Draycott playing with injuries with some others out of position.  The side just did not look interested for long periods of the game.  Quiet with no real leadership.  Had it not been for Bradbrook we would not be in the hat on Monday.

Although Bradbrook did not have an easy opening 30-40 minutes.  Binfield's centrehalves had him in their pockets while we lumped long high balls down the middle.  Only when we pushed it into the corners in  the last five minutes for him to chase did we start moving their defence and create some pressure.

Until then it was all Binfield.  Their opening goal a ball pushed through the middle and calmly chipping the 'keeper.  They went on to create three chances in similar fashion but they did not finish.

Second half and while Leatherhead were not quite as bad it was still Binfield in control.  No one could see where a goal was coming until the 70th minute when the ball bounced to Draycott who had the composure to beat a keeper who was poorly positioned in the goal.

Binfield's keeper reacted in a way that signalled they now wanted the draw.  Refusing to give the ball to Draycott to restart the game quickly.  Leatherhead now started smelling fear and for the first time really took hold of the game.

While in the last five minutes they had some chances and but for a point blank save from Ibrahim they would have scored.  In the last minute Leatherhead won a free kick about 22 yards out.  As Bradbrook stepped up they home side seemed to panic, throwing extra men into the wall.  The confusion was taken advantage of and Bradbrook bent the ball through a gap and past an unsighted 'keeper.

A win that even the hardest of Leatherhead supporters would admit was lucky and barely deserved.  We're in the draw BUT will need to improve to take on some of the names left in the hat.

Travelling Tanners

THIS is what the FA Cup is all about in my mind.  We’ve dispatched with the familiar opposition and now we get to travel to a new ground and play in a competitive game.

Binfield are already pretty pleased with themselves over their run as they are into the second qualifying round of the competition for the first time in their history.  Be warned, they want more though.

Warning signs must be shown at our end too.  The last three results have seen us ship seven goals and gain two points against sides that a team with ambitions of promotion should be putting to bed.

What a match it promises to be.  Directions can be found here.  Kick off at 3pm.  See you there!

 

Birthday wishes

Happy birthday to Adam Gray.  Part of the team that took us to the FA Cup First Round proper. 

Hope to see you at the Grove again soon.  Dickie said he’d buy you a drink…

 

Tanners 3 - 3 Walton & Hersham

The curse of the clanger goes on.  Leatherhead squandered their advantage after fighting their way back into the game following a poor first half.

 

Walton & Hersham didn’t hang around scoring in the opening minutes.  The ref was not enjoying the robust exchanges with the home side appearing to come off worst for the decisions.  The form of Bradbrook put us back in the chase, benefitting from a deflection he notched up his 10^th goal of the season.

 

Second half and it was the home side’s turn to stun with Kev Terry and Coyle scoring in two minutes to give us a commanding lead.

 

The commanding position was then wasted.  Eisa was subbed for the more experienced Burchell but there came the problem.  Kev Terry had been combining well with Bradbrook and between them they had the measure of the visitors.  Kev Terry was pushed out wide and Burchell replaced him upfront but he did not have the same instant chemistry thus allowing Walton into the game.  Cue calamity. 

 

Walton, as Eastbourne did but in less dramatic fashion, notched up two goals to deny us two points.

It’s not all bad.  Leatherhead sit second with a game in hand on the leaders but with two points from nine it could be so much better.

 

Walton & Hersham are coming

After the blip of Saturday comes a chance to bounce back.  Tomorrow sees our old friends Walton & Hersham come to the Grove during a challenging start to the season for them.  That said, they are in better shape than Eastbourne who stole two points from us as an eye drifted to the FA Cup game (perhaps).

Kick off at 7.45.  Good luck Tanners.