Leatherhead 4 Ashford Town (Middx) 0
Leatherhead produced another commanding performance to beat Ashford Town
(Middx) 4-0 at Fetcham Grove on Tuesday.
The hosts gave a clear demonstration of the strength and depth of their current squad
with goals from Kelvin Massango, Tom Kavanagh, Anuar Ceesay and Seb
Karczewski.
Ashford striker Connor Cullen always posed a threat for the visitors. But with Alex
Pearce leading the Tanners back line and Sonny Wheeler as reliable as ever in goal,
the Ash Trees were unable to find a way to break down the hosts’ defence.
Massango opened the scoring for Tanners on nine minutes. The left-sided midfielder
found a gap to run with the ball and his long range shot took a significant deflection
off defender Callum Hope as it flew into the net off the post.
Cullen missed a chance to level for the visitors ten minutes later when he was put
through for a one-on-one against Wheeler. The Leatherhead keeper came off his line
to narrow the angle and blocked the shot with his legs.
Marco Haigh initiated Leatherhead’s second goal five minutes before half-time, as he
took the ball into the Ashford box. But just when it looked as though the chance to
score had been lost, the young forward was knocked off the ball at the by-line and the
referee blew for a penalty.
Kavanagh stepped up and drove his spot kick firmly down the middle past goalkeeper
Nicholas Jupp.
Cullen missed another opportunity to score for the visitors just before the interval.
The Ash Trees striker broke clear of his marker with a fast paced counter-attack
before firing well wide of goal from the edge of the penalty area.
Tanners increased their lead with an exquisite third goal on 58 minutes. Striker Lukas
Franzen-Jones broke clear at the half-way line, driving forward through the middle
before unselfishly rolling the ball out to his left for an advancing Ceesay to hammer
home into the bottom right corner.
Ashford nearly pulled a goal back on 76 minutes. Cullen did well to pick out Basim
Mirtahmasebi with a great delivery into the box, but the former Thatcham Town
player hit the ball too close to Wheeler, who nevertheless made another fine block.
Leatherhead sealed the win with a fourth goal on 89 minutes. Substitute Rhys
Murrell-Williamson powered his way down the left before delivering a probing cross
to the far post. Matt Everitt had two stabs at it, with each effort cleared off the line.
But the ball travelled only as far as Karczewski who crashed it home from five yards
out.
The result sees Tanners move up one place to eleventh while Ashford remain firmly
rooted in the bottom four, ahead of only Guernsey and Badshot Lea at the foot of the
table.
Leatherhead return to league action on Saturday when they visit Ascot United. Kick-
off at the Racecourse Ground is at 3.00pm.
Leatherhead: Sonny Wheeler, Kelvin Manuel Massango, Anuar Ceesay (Rhys Murrel
Williamson 63), Alex Pearce, George Hedley (Alfie Huckle 81), Alex Laing (Jude
Jeffery 74), Tom Kavanagh, Kane Fitzgerald, Matt Everitt, Marco Haigh (Seb
Karczewski 63), Lukas Franzen-Jones
Ashford Town (Middx): Nicholas Jupp, Archie Larkham, Callum Hope, James King
(Sam Humphreys 68), Kyron Horsley-McKay, Prince Kandolo, Basim Mirtahmasebi,
Gordon Dillon (Aryantaj Tajbakhsh 45), Scott Day, Connor Cullen, Deven Reid-
Solanki