Leatherhead 4 Binfield 1
Ruben Bartlett-Antwi’s second-half hat-trick saw Leatherhead round off their season
at Fetcham Grove with a 4-1 win against Binfield.
Tanners fell behind early in the second half before stepping up a gear to score four
goals without reply from the visitors.
Leatherhead manager Ian Selley rotated his starting eleven, making four changes to
the side that lost 3-1 at South Park (Reigate) on Saturday.
The Moles had the better of the exchanges in the opening half. Tanners’ goalkeeper
Harvey Keogh was called into action in the second minute, saving Ethan Lindo’s long
range effort.
Lindo missed a great opportunity to put Binfield ahead ten minutes later, chesting
down the ball outside Leatherhead’s penalty area and rounding Keogh before losing
his balance and firing wide.
The quick thinking Lindo almost caught out a hesitant Keogh moments later as the
young goalkeeper delayed a clearance. The ball ricocheted off the oncoming striker’s
outstretched foot, going just wide of the post and behind for a goal kick.
Leatherhead’s best chance of the opening half came from a quick Kelvin Massango
breakaway down the left on 25 minutes. Bartlett-Antwi got on the end of the
wingback’s finely weighted pass into the box, stabbing the ball against the bar from
close range.
Binfield continued to press forward. Rahzir Smith-Jones latched onto Monty Brady’s
cross, firing wide, before Logan Coles tested Keogh with a long range shot and Jamie
Hilton struck another effort over the bar.
Tanners went close on 42 minutes when pressure in the Moles penalty area saw Ty
Butler strike the ball against the foot of the post before it was eventually cleared
away.
Matt Everitt and Kareem Akinnibi replaced Marco Haigh and Ty Butler at the start of
the second half, adding a new dimension to Leatherhead’s attacks.
But the hosts were caught out on 49 minutes as Binfield opened the scoring. Logan
Coles broke through down the middle before squaring to Rechan Esprit on his left for
a fine finish from just inside the Tanners penalty area.
The Moles could have added another two minutes later. Esprit fed the ball through to
Smith-Jones, but the Bermudian midfielder rushed his shot and fired over.
Leatherhead equalised on 56 minutes from a quickly taken free kick from near the
corner of the box. Everitt played a short pass through to Akinnibi, who laid the ball
onto Lukas Franzen-Jones to fire home from ten yards.
Tanners went ahead three minutes later with a fine solo effort from Bartlett-Antwi. A
quick breakaway from the half way line saw the Tanners striker shake off a Moles
defender before beating goalkeeper Coleridge Fubler from the edge of the box.
The second goal rejuvenated Leatherhead with the hosts almost adding a third within
two minutes. A Kane Fitzgerald corner picked out George Hedley at the far post. But
the former Badshot Lea defender’s header just cleared the top of the bar, landing on
the roof of the net.
Bartlett-Antwi grabbed his second goal for Tanners on 89 minutes, again outpacing
his marker before rounding Fubler and firing home from a wide angle.
And in the fourth minute of added time Bartlett-Antwi completed his hat-trick,
latching onto a through ball down the middle from Tyler D’Cruz before smashing it
home past the Moles keeper.
The result sees Leatherhead remain in eighth place while Binfield slip to sixteenth in
the table.
Tanners finish their season on Saturday with a trip to ninth placed Hartley Wintney.
Kick-off at the Memorial Fields is at 3.00pm.
Leatherhead: Harvey Keogh, George Hedley, Kelvin Massango, Alfie Huckle, Niran
Butler, Cameron Black, Marco Haigh (Matt Everitt 46), Ty Butler (Kareem Akinnibi
45) Ruben Bartlett-Antwi, Kane Fitzgerald, Lukas Franzen-Jones (Tyler D’Cruz 66)
Binfield: Coleridge Fubler, Harvey Griffiths, Malachi Henry (Brighton Morrison 75),
Monty Brady, Theo Pennicott-Bowen, Dan Lewis, Rahzir Smith-Jones (Kai
McKenzie 75), Logan Coles (Daquio Stewart 70), Ethan lindo (Glenn Gabriel 80),
Jamie Hilton (Riley Robinson 80), Rechan Esprit