Binfield 2 Leatherhead 2
Lukas Franzen-Jones salvaged a point for Leatherhead with a last gasp equaliser in an
ill-tempered 2-2 draw at Binfield on Monday evening.
Trailing 2-1, Tanners won a corner in the ninth minute of stoppage time, with the
hosts adopting a series delaying tactics in an effort to run down the clock and hold on
to their slim advantage.
But the Moles failed to effectively clear away the ninety-ninth minute corner and the
ball was played forward for Leatherhead’s Franzen-Jones to bury it from close range.
Neither side was helped by the heavy pitch at the Iconic Stadium. But the hosts
managed to move the ball around positively with a greater share of possession in the
opening exchanges.
Tanners opened the scoring on nine minutes, against the run of play, following a
goalkeeping howler from Moles’ custodian CJ Fubler. The Binfield keeper sliced a
clearance directly into the path of Leatherhead’s Ruben Bartlett-Antwi, who firmly
struck the ball forward into an unguarded net.
Tanners never looked comfortable dealing with Binfield’s well organised set pieces
on the sticky playing surface. Nevertheless Leatherhead almost doubled their lead on
28 minutes, with Tom Kavanagh’s long range effort just clearing the top of the bar.
Binfield levelled on 41 minutes. The Tanners defence were unable to prevent Kickie Dzimba from bursting through the penalty area and unleashing a powerful shot.
Leatherhead keeper Sonny Wheeler did well to block the Binfield front man’s initial
effort, but fellow striker Rahzir Smith-Jones pounced on the loose ball and made no
mistake with his follow up.
Moles took the lead five minutes into the second half following a quick-paced attack
involving Connor Jeanes, Dzimba and Smith-Jones. Jeanes fed the ball through to
Dzimba, who played on to an advancing Smith-Jones. The Binfield forward grabbed
his second goal of the evening with a well-placed shot into the corner of the net.
Tanners almost equalised a couple of minutes later when Rhys Murrell-Williamson’s
wide-angled shot found the side netting.
Leatherhead grew increasingly impatient with some of Binfield’s attention-seeking
tactics. Moles midfielder Jamie Hilton won a series of questionable free kicks,
collapsing in a heap every time a Tanners player went anywhere near him. On 59
minutes Hilton won a free kick for the hosts just outside Leatherhead’s penalty area
and Wheeler had to be at his best, making a fine save to deny Smith-Jones a hat-trick.
Kavanagh almost levelled for Tanners three minutes later when his powerful long
range effort struck the corner of the crossbar.
Yet moments later the Leatherhead skipper was fortunate to stay on the pitch,
receiving only a yellow card for a thumping challenge on Dzimba.
Tanners continued to press forward and again came close to equalising on 76 minutes
when Bartlett-Antwi’s firmly driven shot came back off the post.
But the visitors’ frustrations with Binfield’s time wasting antics came to the boil when
Assistant Manager Mick Bennett was shown a straight red card following an
altercation with the referee’s assistant at the half way line.
The board went up for six minutes of added time and Binfield continued to use every
opportunity to slow down play.
But Leatherhead had the last word. The visitors won a corner in the ninth minute of
added time and Franzen-Jones was in the right place when it mattered to smash the
ball over the line to rescue a point for the visitors.
Tanners return to league action on Saturday when they entertain Southall at Fetcham
Grove. Kick-off is at 3.00pm.
Binfield: CJ Fubler, Harvey Griffiths, Jamie Hilton (Taylor Crook 90+6), Luke
Wayborn, Josh McMenemy, Dan Lewis, Rahzir Smith-Jones (Wade Mutitt 84),
Connor Jeanes, Tyler D’Cruz, Kickie Dzimba (Ethan Lindo 79), Ethan Gold
Leatherhead: Sonny Wheeler, Kelvin Manuel Massango, Alfie Huckle, Tom
Kavanagh (Dontaye Whittaker 80), Cerny Ando, Alex Pearce, Niran Butler, Rhys
Murrell-Williamson (Lukas Franzen-Jones 80), Deondre Date, Ruben Bartlett-Antwi,
Anuar Ceesay (Kane Fitzgerald 53)