Leatherhead 4 Farnham Town 1
Leatherhead produced a commanding display to end Farnham Town’s unbeaten run of
58 league matches at Fetcham Grove on Saturday.
A Lukas Franzen-Jones hat-trick and a fine Kane Fitzgerald goal cemented an
emphatic 4-1 win against the league leaders, hot on the heels of Tanners’ 6-1
midweek demolition of Rayners Lane
Town made a flying start with Great Evans planting the ball in the hosts’ net after
only two minutes of play, only for his effort to be ruled out for offside.
A tense opening half hour saw the ball moved about from end to end, with neither
side able to unlock their opponents’ strong defensive line-up.
Leatherhead almost broke the deadlock on 34 minutes. Franzen-Jones made a probing
diagonal delivery across Town’s penalty area which just evaded an advancing Alex
Laing at the far post.
But Tanners managed to find a way to cut through Farnham’s defence four minutes
later. Leatherhead skipper Tom Kavanagh put another teasing cross into space at the
far post with Franzen-Jones latching onto the ball to fire home past goalkeeper Conor
Clark.
Town almost levelled just before half time. Midfielder Joe Jackson was given room to
run forward with the ball unchallenged before unleashing a shot from the edge of the
box that whizzed over the top of the bar.
Tanners came out for the second half determined to keep up the pressure on Town’s
defence and build upon their lead.
And they succeeded with a second goal scored on 52 minutes. Franzen-Jones received
the ball on the edge of Farnham’s penalty area with his back to goal, before turning
quickly and firing past Clark from eighteen yards.
Town struck back, reducing the arrears with a well-taken goal on 55 minutes. Evans
forced a fine close-range save from Sonny Wheeler. But the Leatherhead keeper only
managed to parry the ball into the path of Farnham striker Adam Liddle, who struck a
low wide-angled shot into the bottom right hand corner.
Tanners restored their two-goal advantage three minutes later as Franzen-Jones
completed a sublime hat-trick with another clinical finish.
Laing worked his way past a Town defender down the left before picking out the
former Margate and Lancing striker in the middle to fire home from close range.
Leatherhead almost added a fourth goal on 65 minutes. Matt Everitt broke free of his
marker and blasted a shot against the crossbar before the ball was eventually
scrambled away to safety.
Despite finding themselves in the rare position of behind in a match, the league
leaders remained composed and almost pulled a goal back on 68 minutes.
Leatherhead gave Farnham’s Harry Cooksley sufficient room to travel with the ball
before allowing him space to shoot from distance. His fine effort just cleared the top
of the bar.
Town continued to press forward and went close again when Liam Flanighan forced
another good save from Wheeler.
But Leatherhead effectively killed off any lingering hopes of a late Farnham
comeback, scoring a decisive fourth goal on 79 minutes after launching a quick
counter-attack from deep inside their own half.
Franzen-Jones played the ball forward to Fitzgerald, who drew Clark off his line
before planting the ball past the keeper into an unguarded net.
Leatherhead wound down the clock, keeping possession inside Farnham’s half
without further troubling the keeper.
In the closing minutes Town manager Paul Johnson was shown a straight red card
following comments made to the referee’s assistant on the touchline. Johnson
received some generally good-natured taunts and jeers from the home supporters as he
crossed the pitch and made his way back to the visitors’ dressing room.
The result sees Farnham remain top of the league whilst the three points lift
Leatherhead up to twelfth place in the table.
Tanners return to league action on Tuesday when they welcome former manager Luke
Tuffs and his Ashford Town (Middx) side to Fetcham Grove. Kick-off is at 7.45pm.
Leatherhead: Sonny Wheeler, Kelvin Manuel Massango, Alex Pearce, Niran Butler,
Alex Laing (Rhys Murrel Williamson 85), Anuar Ceesay, Tom Kavanagh, Alfie
Huckle, Matt Everitt, Deondre Date (Kane Fitzgerald 71), Lukas Franzen-Jones
(Marco Haigh 80)
Farnham Town: Conor Clark, Jordan Stepney, Ryan Kinnane, Mark Waters (Shay
Brennan 60), Owen Dean, Harry Cooksley, Joe Jackson (Kai Tanner 77), Sam De St
Croix (Jack Marney 64), Great Evans (Richie Mbele 57), Elliott Legg (Liam
Flanighan 63), Adam Liddle