Met Police 1 - 2 Tanners

A well deserved away win saw Sammy Moore's Green and White Army leap 6 places in front of a superb following of more than 250 away supporters.

Dare we dream of reaching the play-offs and beating Dulwich away? Maybe not yet, but with winnable games to come against Harrow and Tooting we could finish the festive period with 12 points from a possible 12.

There were some sad mutterings before the game about the loss of Sam Blackman who allegedly had got a bit greedy. The good news though is we won't have to listen to the tiresome ginger ninja chants anymore.

Tanners started off playing great football and could easily have gone into the break 2 or 3 up. The gaffer was back in the side adding quality and composure to the midfield whilst Jack was still recovering from a niggle. It was Niall who broke the deadlock with a stunning curling strike from the edge of the box and we shivered off to the bar 1 up.

The 2nd half was hard work and the (the no Police in the) Met Police side equalised with a header from a corner. It looked like we'd have to settle for a draw until Gerry, justifying his adulation at corners, fired a header into the corner of the net in injury time.

Ks are here

Today we face our old friends and tenants, Kingstonian. With games in hand disappearing we are running out of excuses for being so low in the table, but a win would take us above our visitors.

Two new signings get thrown into the battle to help our cause.

Kick off at 3pm.  Good luck fellas.

Travelling Tanners

A Yannisless side travels the 110 miles for this gruelling midweek fixture. I doubt many will be making the journey tonight...

It's a big game though.  They find themselves looking over their shoulder at a resurgent Worthing, something we may well be doing if we lose tonight.

Kick off at 7.45, good luck fellas.

(Not yet playing for ) Leatherhead 0 Wigan 4

A disappointing day for those still hoping to play for Tanners as table topping Wigan proved too good for AFC Wimbledon.

The curse of the newly approved new stadium struck early at a freezing and packed Kingsmeadow. Meanwhile, those who used to own this ground couldn't play because of a frozen pitch at Fetcham Grove. 

AFC fought hard in the first half but missed the clinical finishing of Midson. Neil Ardley looked increasingly concerned as the game wore on as Wigan eventually took the lead in the second half. A crazy tackle saw them down to 10 men and then Wigan had as much fun as Steve Smith and scored 3 more.

On to Needham Market on Tuesday for the real Tanners and with the temperatures warming we may actually have to play this one.

Game off

The local derby against Dorking Wanderers has fallen to a frozen pitch, despite warmer weather creeping in for much of the day.

No game Saturday due to other teams being in the FA Trophy so more time to get your Christmas shopping done.

Burgess Hill are coming

A new frosty period descends on Fetcham Grove, leaving the warmth of the FA Cup far behind, as we focus on the league (and the Surrey Senior Cup!) with mixed results.

Wednesday night was a combination of misfortune and (mainly) lack of application as we made life quite comfortable for our guests.  Tomorrow we see a team in a similar position arrive and we simply have to up our game if we are going to have any hope of climbing the league.

Kick off at 3pm.  "Double socker" klaxon is sounding.  See you there!

Tanners 0 - 2 Thurrock

For the 200 hundred in attendance, we could reflect on a fine weekend and yet be a bit sniffy about the absence of approximately 900 supporters who lost their way to the ground last night.  Supporting Leatherhead isn't all league quality stadiums and TV cameras you know... but the queue for the tea bar was mercifully small so we couldn't complain too much.

On the pitch we started well.  Thurrock seemed quite rattled and could not cope with our attacks, their keeper for one lost the ability to kick and sent balls squirming in all directions.  This dominance lasted about 20 minutes before Thurrock regained control and looked quite comfortable.

On the stroke of half time Leatherhead failed to deal with an areal ball and it plopped into the back of the net.  This trick was repeated in the second half and Zak was lobbed by a looping header and the ball nestled into the side netting.

We tried to rally but found ourselves offside.  Nash did plant a powerful header straight into the chest of the diving 'keeper but even it had beat the impressively large shot stopper it would have been the last action.

On to Saturday and the visit of Burgess Hill... just two points behind us and a must win if we have any aspirations of play-offs.

Thurrock are coming

I don't think we should be too disappointed after our FA Cup exit as we gave it a good go and were beaten by a better team with form on their side.  That should help, as they players need to get back on with the job at hand; the league and the Surrey Senior Cup.

League action returns tonight.  Thurrock come to the Grove who are in a similar place in the league, albeit after playing more games.  Should be a good measure of how we will adjust to life without the glamour of the cup.

Kick off at 7.45.  See you there.

Wycombe 3 - 1 Tanners

To get over 1,000 fans at an away game is an achievement in itself, but to play out a game in front of them where for 45 minutes we had perhaps the better of it shows how far the club has come.

Wycombe are a different club to Torquay when we last faced league opposition.  Torquay were finding life hard in their league while Wycombe are fifth; off the pitch we were welcome into their bar at Torquay, here we drank in the car park.

Once in the ground it was clear who was looking forward to the match more, and if Wycombe were to lose it would be partially down to their lack of support.  A lack lustre following if ever I saw one while the away end (as is often the case anyway) were in fine voice.  I was lucky enough to be in the main stand for only five minutes just prior to kick off and the sound coming from the stand was impressive.

Like Torquay, Leatherhead surprised the hosts and got off to a good start.  It was a set piece on 2 minutes that we got our goal in Torquay so it seemed like an age before we scored from a set piece on 7 minutes.  A ball swung in from Sammy Moore and the defence panicked, pulling on Midson's shirt to prevent his run.  The ref, in a picky moid, gave the penalty which Midson confidently put away to get his tally to 12 goals.

Leatherhead could have really gone on to make things very difficult for Wycombe was Colhessy was through on goal and brought a good save from the 'keeper and soon after we struck the bar.  Meanwhile The Beast was firmly in Jerry's pocket and we were looking quite comfortable.

An area where Wycombe were dominate though was midfield.  Constantly pressuring us, forcing us into mistakes and winning free kicks and that is how they got themselves back into the game shortly before the half hour mark.  Despite being quite a way out, the free kick looked dangerous as soon as their midfielder purposely placed the ball down.  Zak might have been expected to cover more ground to save it but it was well struck.  By not retaining to half time the lead perhaps allowed Wycombe to regroup a little easier as in the second half the game was very much Wycombe's.

Their midfield were even more composed, hunting in packs and they started using possession better.  The Beast was now finding more space and his powerful shot on 76 minutes could only be parried into the path of a Wycombe striker who bundled it over the line.

Wycombe perhaps knew Moore was "getatable" and this proved to be the case when he received a niggly tackle from behind and the Wycombe player persisted in harassing him while finding his feet.  He unleashed a swinging elbow to get the player off of his shirt but the move was far too aggressive for this ref and he received a second yellow.  Despite being down to 10 we nearly scored from the freekick Moore had just won, but Minshull's header sailed well over.

A fast breakaway move stretched our depleted side and The Beast scored with a powerful diving header to make it 3-1.  The hopes of being in the third round hat dashed, but memories of a great cup run and day out will live on for a long time.

Wycombe hospitality did not extend to anything after the game, unless you approached the bouncer with a middle class accent and claimed to be neutral and got into the bar to congratulate the players.  Now they must dust themselves off for league action that starts this Wednesday... we hope to see as many of the 1,152 that enjoyed Sunday at The Grove then...

Travelling Tanners

In 2003 our hosts were travelling to their last game of the season needing a win to stay up and while stopping halfway stumbled across a statue of a statue of a Native American.  They saw this as a lucky sign and vowed, should they win, the statue would be bought. 

They won and the lucky statue took them all the way to the FA Cup semi final the following season... now we have our own lucky charm in the unlikely shape of the dolphin.  While the providence of the dolphin has come into question, it has strangely captured the imagination of the team and I believe it will feature amongst the fans tomorrow.

Not much else needs to be said about tomorrow.  To reach the second round would have been beyond any expectations at the start of the season, a campaign that started with the future of our home ground even in serious doubt.  This cup run has brought the much needed funds to clear debts and get the ground out of the sights of millionaire academy owners.

There is everything you need to know about the game here.  Kick off at 2pm.  See you there!

Banstead 2 - 5 Tanners

For once an experimental side did not capitulate, as with the league cup, but went on to notch up an impressive 5-2 to see us through to the next round.

A handful of supporters made the journey and could only recognise about three names on the team sheet.  Finding goals came easier than hot food as Leatherhead found themselves 2-1 up at half time and then went on to score three more until they pulled one back at the death.

The Surrey Senior Cup dream goes on, but now we focus on Wycombe...

Travelling Tanners

Going to Banstead is like putting on an old pair of socks (and I recommend you put on a couple more pairs for the visit to the tundra) as this was a ground I regularly visited when I first started supported Levred in the mid-90s.  In those days we made this journey twice as they ground shared with Epsom & Ewell.

Tonight we face our old friends in a Surrey Senior Cup tie that has taken on greter significance than we could have predicted when the draw was made.  A rush of blood to the head saw two of our most influential players sent off seven days before and they can only feature in our historic cup game due this fixture being pre-arranged.

We love the Surrey Senior Cup though and to advance would be great, but understandably the cotton wool will be out in force tonight and we already have news of Academy Players getting the nod.

Kick off at 7.45.  Directions can be found here.  Good luck fellas.

Tanners 2 - 0 Enfield

A war of attrition today as two sides battled out a rather uninspiring game, but let us not underestimate the impoartance of the win.  Three points without Jack would have been hard to believe a few weeks ago.

The first half had its moments, with one weak header going wide from us and a series of offside decisions at the other end.

Second half we upped it to create a period of about 10 minutes of excitement, which would be cut down to about two in edited highlights.

McManus was the goal hero today.  He made a nice amount of space for himself before directing his shot past the 'keeper and in off of the post.

The Enfield 'keeper then seemed to get the jitters and made a series of blunders, the most calamitous being from a back pass that he failed to get under control.  McManus pounced and header the ball away from the juggler and then fired his shot in from a reasonably tight angle.

We all had a good laugh when a shot going well wide was nearly directed in by an Enfield midfielder; but we were laughing through gritted teeth as the temperature was dropping with little prospect of future entertainment.

Three points and now we focus on the Surrey Senior Cup.  Please let there be a Surrey Senior Cup...

Lowestoft Town 3 - 1 Tanners

Getting to Lowestoft was never going to be an option for me midweek, so I looked forward to a quiet night, perhaps sit down with my laptop and make some sarcastic tweets over how the game was going. Hell, I might even pretend I was there... but that all changed in the opening minutes.

First of all (from a contact) Midson received a yellow for handball outside the box, a decision he queried and received a second yellow.  One off.  Almost from the resulting play Moore dived in and got a yellow and, not picking up on the subtle signals that the ref was not tolerating back chat, queried this decision too and got the same treatment.

Leatherhead soon conceded but fought back to make it 1-1, a Minshull header giving us hope.  By all accounts we never gave up but to be two men down (and two key men) it was hard work and so we lost a perhaps winnable game.

This was all immaterial to the excitement levels on Twitter.  Would our two key players be out for Wycombe?  The laws of the game were sent to some of the highest judges in the land (well, a Twitter poll) and it appeared OK.  Then Brady (a man I dare say has first hand experience of suffering punishment through discussing decisions) confirmed the key to this is the Surrey Senior Cup game on Tuesday.  Pray for sun.

Travelling Tanners

First a brief summary of last night where Billericay arrived at The Grove to play Kingstonian.  Without Tamplin (in hiding in Dubai) there was no silly song (replaced by "****** come on"), Paul Konchesky (on the bench) and Pennant (on the bench as usual) and an altogether better atmosphere.  Sure Ks fans threw some fake money at the 'keeper but he suddenly started to appear pleasant.

First half and Ks could perhaps claim to have had the better of it, but in the second half the conference quality of Billericay's players told and they soon found themselves two nil up.  Then Billericay's keeper admitted it was a dive for our first game and wished us good luck against Wycombe which really took the win out of our sails so we left early.  It got us out of the house though.

On to tonight and it is the longest mid-week journey I think in the league as we take on Lowestoft.  Providing our players didn't use up all of their goals we could hope for something from this game, but it is a long way to travel having played so often

Kick off at 7.45.  Directions can be found here.  Good luck fellas.

Tanners 4 - 0 Wingate & Finchley

Wingate & Finchley could not have predicted the response from the FA Cup win that they were on the receiving end of yesterday.  During this cup run we have been fragile in the other competitions, but perhaps by finally getting to play a league club has brought some closure to the team and they can relax (for now).

The first set back for the visitors was their 'keeper; he pulled a thigh muscle and had to ask a friend to help take goal kicks.  The second setback was that Midson and Nash were on fire.

The first goal came from Midson, receiving the ball in the box and sent defenders and the 'keeper diving in all directions except from where he coolly dispatched his shot.

The second was from a Midson / Nash combination.  Midson stole the ball off of a defender, ran to the bi-line and crossed to Nash who slotted it in.  Nash then made himself some room in the area to slide in another... and header home his hat-trick on the stroke of half-time.  Some debate over whether this was a perfect hat-trick.

Second half brought no allowed goals, but both teams scored from offside positions in quick succession.  Nash again for us.

A win that makes our league position look healthier, but a different kettle of fish with the long trip to Lowestoft on Tuesday...

Wingate & Finchley are coming

Still on a high, mentally and physically exhausted... and that is just us supporters following the heroics of Thursday. Now we face league opposition in the shape our friends from North London.

Wingate & Finchley sit in a nice position in the league and would be tough to beat on an ordinary Saturday... but with FA Cup Round 2 two tickets on sale it just isn't.

Kick off at 3pm.  See you there.

Billericay 1 - 3 Tanners

I'd like to think we could chalk up tonight's win due to arrogance.  Arrogance that Glenn Tamplin would grin while predicting he would tear us apart in the replay.  Arrogance that he would settle for a draw.  Arrogance that he would play on Tuesday.  That would be doing us a disservice though as we thoroughly deserved our win tonight.

The first half had BT Sport continuously trying to coax positive answers from the pundits over Billericay but at half time the managers from Wycombe and Woking were resolute; Leatherhead were the better side.

In the second half we were event better, but I feared the worst when they scored from an offside position.

Midson does not disappoint in the FA Cup and he was soon at hand to head our equaliser and in the 70th minute, following a clear foul in the area, he dispatched the penalty to put us 2-1.

The ref was promised a new car so found 5 minutes of injury time but it only allowed us to smash a third goal through the money grabbing hands of their 'keeper to make it 3-1.

A victory for football and now, finally, our FA Cup can begin.  We are off to Wycombe.

Travelling Tanners

When Glenn Tamplin's massive ego took over while being interviewed on the BBC, he perhaps did both teams a favour.  It created just about enough interest in the game for us to get on the TV, which I appreciate as I can now watch the game from a bar in Poland.

The prediction was that they would destroy us in the replay, and he may well be right.  Better sides than us have received a good beating and only last night, while they could have perhaps focussed on the FA Cup, they beat Merstham 3-0.  If recent Leatherhead performances are anything to go by, if Billericay come out with only ten men and play two second halves it could well be 10-0.

Football isn't as clean cut as that though, as our fellow Surrey based team Woking will testify.  Despite Billericay's big money signings we have gone toe to toe with them for 180 minutes and are only one goal down... that goal being a very dodgy penalty.  A ref that sees that interview will hopefully give it some more thought before pointing to that spot again.

Kick off at 7.45, although get there early in case there is another queue to get in.  Directions can be found here.  Good luck fellas!

Royston 3 - 2 Tanners

Sammy was covered in cotton wool for this one and Brades was covered in an unkempt beard. Rod was also present, starting to show an interest again now he has the chance to get on TV. 

There were just 15 lost souls supporting The Tanners compared to 1,500 the previous weekend. At least we were well qualified with a high percentage of our supporters holding a PhD.

A strangely subdued Jack started the game but was a shadow of his usual self, particularly compared to his heroics against Billericay where he played centre forward and centre back. Perhaps he was rightly concerned about picking up a knock or a niggle before the big one.

We started full of vim and vigour for the first 30 minutes and completely forgot that we were nervous about appearing live on TV at Tamplin Towers Theme Park on Thursday. Liam and D'Sean put us two up and we were looking great.

Slowly we started to tire and look leggy. Royston worked their way back into the game just before half time. The 2nd half was a bit of a disaster. Royston equalised then the referee gave us no chance by sending a Royston player off. A goal in injury time meant that for the 3rd time this season we lost to 10 men.

In preparation for our FA Cup Replay, and out of respect to the beloved Glenn Tamplin, I will leave you with Isiah 40;31 

But those that hope in the Lord will renew their strength
They will soar on wings like eagles
They will run and not grow weary
They will walk and not be faint