Tanners 1 - 4 Farnham

Not so long ago, this pre-season friendly made perfect sense, and I was looking forward to it but now, due to the FA's new coefficient, we are just a few days before the extra-preliminary round it didn't look so appealing.  The players seemed to agree as they tentatively saw out this game out, while Farnham played with more freedom.

Another reason to hold the friendly may have been to cash in on their large supporter base, but it appeared the only person who came to watch Farnham was Marc White as he prepares for his friendly against them soon.  Marc did not have to wait for Farnham to open the scoring when they were awarded an absolute stinker of a penalty.  Hardly any contact but he pointed to the spot and it was 0-1.

Farnham soon raced to a three-goal lead when twice Sonny rushed off his line to close down a pass, only to be beaten and the ball calmly rolled into an empty net.  0-3 and half time.

To be fair, Leatherhead did come out and for the first time looked really committed to get into the game and got their reward from penalty.  Sam De St. Croix stepped up and obviously felt bad about scoring against his old team so sent the 'keeper the right way and it was saved.  He scored on the follow up for this penalty, but when we got awarded another one for handball, he sent the 'keeper the same way and it was saved.

Farnham made it 1-4 from a nice move down the right to finish us off.  That concludes the preseason friendlies, and now we get stuck into the FA Cup and the visit of Phoenix Sports on Saturday…

Farnham are coming!

Leatherhead welcome last year's champions, as Farnham come to the Grove for the last preseason friendly of the season.

Love Island will have to wait. Kick off at 7.45. See you there!

Corinthian-Casuals 3 - 5 Tanners

I sat with Rod before the game as he marked off his team sheet, and he looked quite despondent about the number of players that were still unavailable.  I don't recall a season where we have yet to see a full team, so close to the start of the season.

 

We did not need to wait long for our first goal.  As I walked around the ground, I had just heard a fan complain over the dark-arts of the long throw when one was sent in, flicked on and James Richmond scored with a header on just 40 seconds.  1-0… This was going to be easy… The home side equalised with a brilliant 30-yard free kick into the top corner three minutes later.  1-1. Oh.

 

Leatherhead look like they have been working on their corners.  Hogan sent in two corners, and we scored twice in quick succession.  Hedley and Stepney with the headed goals.  3-1.  Just before half time, Nathan Hogan scored from close range just before halftime, increasing the lead to 4-1.

 

The second half had less goals but did not lack drama.  Corinthian-Casuals were given a penalty, for a clumsy tackle form behind in the box.  This made it 4-2 but still felt safe.  Well, until we failed to hold onto a cross and the fired in from close range.  4-3.

 

Our dominance from corners restored our two-goal cushion, when Stepney fired into the top corner when our hosts failed to clear.  5-3 and all we had to do was calmly see this out.  Alas, a Corinthian-Casuals player had other ideas by crashing into one of our players and then insisting he have a fight with anyone who fancied it.  Sonny Wheeler does not need a second invitation, and charged out of his box to join in.  With Ascot still fresh in our minds, a club fine is needed every time he leaves the area as the ref was in a friendly / charitable mood and only sent off the main protagonist.

 

A piece of silverware in the bag and now we get ready for the visit of Farnham on Tuesday…

Travelling Tanners

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention our impressive six nil win over Merstham in the week. I'm not sure what was happening with our visitors, as they named a complete squad of trialists; from Trialist A to T.

Hopefully we will face a more settled Corinthian-Casuals, to give us a stiffer test, in the Harvey Hill Trophy.

Kick off at 3pm. See you there.

Merstham are coming!

Tonight sees The Mick Sullivan derby being played, as our Isthmian South East opponents come to the Grove tonight.

Playing on grass, on Saturday, saw us fight back impressively so we will hopefully look to go one better.

Kick off at 7.45. Free for Season Ticket holders. Good luck fellas!

Tanners 2 - 2 Tonbridge Angels

A touch of déjà vu for the Leatherhead supporters in the opening five minutes as, much like their Tuesday outing against National League South opposition, found themselves 2-0 in a short period of time.  Goals on two and five minutes must have worried all those in attendance.

 

Luckily the fight back started in the 10^th minute, and not the 85^th, when Akinnibi finished at close range.  The come back was complete Hedley capilitalised on our guests inability to clear their lines.

 

Onto Tuesday, and a visit from Merstham…

Tonbridge Angels are coming!

There will be nervous glances at the weather forecast for the rest of today, as a much needed spell of rain comes just hours before our first home friendly.

If the pitch soaks it up, then our old friends Tonbridge Angels come to The Grove. A side that have gone on to play in the National League South.

Kick off at 3pm. Good luck fellas.

DWFC 5 - 1 Tanners

I was annoyed even before the game kicked off.  To "save time" I bought a ticket in advance, but with only one turnstile operator accepting payments and scanning it made little difference, and I queued anyway.  Upon entry I was shepherded into the away section… where we shared a bar with the home support… but then – not forgetting that while we are local rivals, it is just a pre-season friendly with a trophy – saw segregation was needlessly introduced to prevent us from standing behind the goal.

 

My mood hardly improved when after just 9 minutes Dorking Wanderers took the lead.  It was disappointing as a move down the right looked like it could have been dealt with twice, but the winger had too much about him and fired in a cross for Rutherford to caress the ball into the far post.

 

Meanwhile, Marc White sipped coffee from a disposable cup showing he was as concerned about the planet as he was about losing this game.  He barely had time to wipe away the froth from his top lip when it was 2-0.  A cross from the tricky Vincent found the head of Rutherford; his header was initially saved by Wheeler but it fell back to his feet and he simply had too much composure to miss from there.

 

3-0.  Bloody hell.  Another cross from their right was met by Carter who deftly lobbed the ball into the far corner in a kind of audacious semi-scorpion kick.

 

Half time and now, not only was I contemplating why I bothered to buy a ticket in advance, but why I had bought one at all.  We did come out with more purpose and mustered our first shot on goal – Lukas fired a shot that was partially blocked so took the sting out of it – but it came to no avail when Lewis fired in from close range just four minutes into the second half.

 

Sod this for a game of soldiers.  I left to prepare for an earlier meeting in Feltham and by the time I got home Trialist B, to add insult to injury, scored.  We did get one back at the end, but 5-1 pretty much reflected what we have come to expect from this away fixture.

 

Onto Saturday and the visit of Tonbridge Angels…

Travelling Tanners

The annual tussle over the Advertiser Trophy occurs tonight at the Meadowbank. A game that can runaway from us, if we're not careful… but perhaps our new side can be more of a match.

Kick off at 7.45. See you there!

Knaphill 0-8 Tanners

Over three friendlies, Leatherhead have score 13 goals.  The only game, of the three, they didn't score in was the game I attended.  Thanks.

 

The heat did not stop Leatherhead from bouncing back from the 1-0 defeat at Cobham.  Hogan and Akinnibi each scored two goals, while Igozouln, Breckon (penalty), Butler, and Waters each contributed one goal to Leatherhead's total of eight.

 

Onto Tuesday and, probably, the stiffer test of Dorking Wanderers…

Travelling Tanners

After a hard-fought game at Cobham, Leatherhead play another friendly on the unforgiving 4G surface that has proved to be so tough to win on.

Today we travel to Ashford (Middlesex) to play Knaphill in our third friendly.

Kick off at 3pm. Good luck fellas.

Cobham 1 - 0 Tanners

With so much striking talent recently imported into the squad, I wondered how many goals we would ship past our hosts as I walked around the ground on an altogether pleasant evening.  That did last year's play-off finalists a disservice, as their settled squad looked composed from the start.

 

While we hit the post, Cobham looked relatively comfortable in the first half.  They looked even more comfortable when they scored from a header after they sent in a couple of crosses in quick succession.

 

Some changes were made in the second half and Leatherhead looked the better side but lacked a clinical finish.  Time after time a player was sent clear on goal from a through pass, but they could only blast their shot directly at the 'keeper.

 

We had two or three shouts for a penalty but the referee, who was happy to dish out a few yellow cards, was in no mood to point to the spot during a friendly.

 

Onto Saturday and the trip to Knaphill…

Travelling Tanners

Ok. Let's get this show on the road, then. Spare a thought for Woody, as we play away at Cobham tonight.

This will be my first chance to see the new and impressive array of signings in action.

Kick off at 7.45. See you there!

Travelling 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.

Tanners 4 - 1 Binfield

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.

Binfield are coming!

Binfield come to The Grove in our last home game of the season. Our guests are safe from relegation but will no doubt want to better their 2-2 December draw and start signing off the season in style.

Kick off at 3pm. Good luck fellas!

South Park 3 - 1 Tanners

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.

Travelling Tanners

A trip into Reigate today as we face South Park in the league. This isn't a happy hunting ground for us, and should we to today the aftermath would be felt for the remainder of the season.

We also need a few results to go our way, so no doubt there'll be some nervous glances at our phones to keep abreast of the score.

Kick off at 3pm. See you there!

Tanners 2 - 4 Walton & Hersham

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…

Walton & Horsham are coming!

Surrey Senior Cup Semi Final Night is upon us, as we welcome old friends Walton & Hersham to the Grove.

Our guests sit in third in the Southern League - Premier South and have a nasty habit of beating us… hopefully we can put that right tonight!

Kick off at 7:45. See you there!