Leatherhead 2 Hanworth Villa 1
Leatherhead demonstrated their bounce back ability with a 2-1 win against Hanworth
Villa at Fetcham Grove on Saturday.
Goals either side of half time from Matt Everitt and Kareem Akinnibi gave Tanners a
comfortable lead before the Villains pulled a goal back in the dying moments of
normal time.
Following their humiliating 10-0 defeat at Uxbridge last week, no one quite knew
what effect that result might have on Tanners, as they prepared to face third-placed
Hanworth Villa.
But Leatherhead manager Ian Selley succeeded in steadying the ship, without having
to make any major changes to his starting line-up, as Tanners set about re-igniting
their play-off ambitions against the well organised Villains.
Visiting striker Sam Merson posed a constant threat to Leatherhead throughout the
game. With only five minutes played, Merson curled a probing 25 yard free kick just
wide of the post.
Tanners went close four minutes later when Matt Everitt struck a free kick deep into
Villa’s penalty area. The ball was headed down to Tyler D’Cruz, whose stinging shot
rattled the crossbar before being cleared away to safety.
Leatherhead continued to press forward and D’Cruz was denied on the goal line by
Villa keeper Mark Smith after heading down Akinnibi’s well struck cross.
Midway through the opening half Everitt launched a quick counter attack for the
hosts. The Tanners striker picked out Marco Haigh on his left and the former South
Park forward took the ball into the visitors’ penalty area before firing over from a
tight angle.
Play was briefly interrupted after Leatherhead keeper Harvey Keogh collided with
D’Cruz when both players went to meet a high ball in the hosts’ penalty area. D’Cruz
was able to continue after both players received treatment, but the new Tanners striker
went down again a few minutes later and was replaced by Ty Butler before half-time.
Leatherhead’s persistence paid off with a goal in added time at the end of the opening
half. Akinnibi played the ball into the box from the right and Everitt skilfully fired
home from a tight angle.
Tanners increased their lead on 53 minutes after a Kane Fitzgerald shot was blocked
by a Villa defender. The ball dropped invitingly for Akinnibi, who had the simple task
of finding the net from six yards out.
While Leatherhead fully deserved their two goal advantage, the Villains fought their
way back into the match over the final thirty minutes of normal time.
Ben Mulley collected a long Merson throw in, firing just wide, before Merson latched
onto a loose clearance near the half way line before launching an audacious shot from
fifty yards out that narrowly missed the target.
Villa came close to pulling a goal back on 71 minutes. A free kick found Josh Casey
in Leatherhead’s penalty area and his goal-bound header was acrobatically tipped
over the bar with an excellent save from Keogh.
The visitors continued to press forward in the closing minutes. Villa had a shout for a
penalty when defender Olukayode Osu went down in the box, only to be flagged for
offside. Further shots from Dylan Randall and Lucas Defise were blocked by
defenders, as Tanners continued to hold their two-goal advantage.
Everitt made way for Lucas Franzen-Jones on 89 minutes, with the popular striker
returning to the side as a late substitute after a two-month injury lay-off.
But within seconds of Franzen-Jones’s introduction Hanworth Villa pulled a goal
back. Tanners failed to clear the ball from their penalty area and Villa sub Louis
Collins smashed it past Keogh to set up a tense finale.
Guy Ansah-Palmer fired over the bar for the visitors in stoppage time, but Tanners
were largely untroubled through almost ten minutes of added time as they held out to
secure the win.
The result sees Leatherhead stay in eighth place in the table on 66 points. But with
three league matches left to play Tanners still remain in contention for a top five
finish.
Leatherhead face another tough challenge on Tuesday when they host Southern
League neighbours Walton & Hersham in the semi-final of the Surrey Senior Cup.
Kick-off at Fetcham Grove is at 7.45pm.
Leatherhead: Harvey Keogh, Niran Butler, George Hedley, Alfie Huckle, Alex
Pearce, Cameron Black, Marco Haigh (Ruben Bartlett-Antwi 81), Matt Everitt (Lukas
Franzen-Jones 89), Tyler D’Cruz (Ty Butler 38), Kane Fitzgerald, Kareem Akinnibi
(Kelvin Massango 70)
Hanworth Villa: Mark Smith, Olukayode Osu, Josh Casey, Manny Parry (George
Wells 53), Ben Mulley (Louis Collins 88), Joe Peters, Abdullah Javaid (Guy Ansah-
Palmer 63), Lucas Defise, Sam Merson, Sam Mead (Shane Dunne 53), Pierre Fonkeu
(Dylan Randall 73)