by Rod Ellis
Leatherhead 0 Southall 0
Leatherhead’s search for a first home league win of the season continued with an uninspiring goalless draw against Southall on Tuesday.
The closest either side came to scoring was when Leatherhead’s Keane Anderson saw his late second half effort rebound off a post, in a match that rarely lit up.
Tanners boss Luke Tuffs made one change to the team that drew 1-1 at Guernsey on Saturday, with Steven Duff coming into the starting line up in place of Adam Allen.
The first half lacked any sign of intensity and only came to life in stoppage time, as Tanners launched a wave of attacks in the visitors’ half. Dave Tarpey forced a fine save from Southall keeper Michael Edegbe to win a corner before Duff struck a long range effort just wide of the post.
Leatherhead’s back four defended well for the whole ninety minutes, with the visitors having to resort to shooting from distance. Luke Heneghan, Leonard Farhall, Anthony O’Connor and Chinua Cole all hit long range efforts either high or wide for Southall, without troubling Leatherhead keeper Luke Williams.
The match momentarily came to life midway through the second half with some good interplay between Tarpey and Mitchell Parker before a Southall defender turned the final delivery behind for a corner. Within a minute the visitors created their best chance with a counter-attack, as Williams was called into action to parry a firm shot away for a corner.
But there was little sign of any urgency from either side in the closing stages, as the match petered out to an anticlimactic stalemate.
Leatherhead: Luke Williams, Jerry O’Sullivan, Steven Duff, Josh Webb (Adam Allen 79), Jake Eales, Benedict Frempah, Jermaine McGlashan (Will Hellestoe 84), Keane Anderson, Dave Tarpey, Mitchell Parker, Archie Burnett (Scott Day 62)
Southall: Michael Edegbe, Alex Nolan, Chinua Cole, Louis Stead, Carl Pearce, Frankie Taylor, Jack Roper (Emmanuel Williams), James McCluskey (Jake Frailing), Anthony O’Connor, Luke Heneghan, Leonard Farhall