Leatherhead 0 Horsham 0
Leatherhead and Horsham played out a goalless draw in an FA Cup First Qualifying
Round tie that somehow failed to fully ignite at Fetcham Grove on Saturday.
Neither Tanners nor the Hornets were able to provide a key finishing touch as both
sides’ defences comfortably dealt with anything played through the middle.
And with Mikey Allen returning to Fulham after fracturing his wrist against South
Park last week, Leatherhead manager Hayden Bird was able to attract another Premier
League Academy goalkeeper at short notice to fill Allen’s position.
Brian Okonkwo joins Leatherhead on loan from Arsenal’s Under 18 squad, and at six
foot four the new keeper will be a commanding presence in the Tanners goal.
Horsham pressed forward in the early exchanges, with Jack Strange heading over on
four minutes before close range efforts from Lee Harding and Danny Barker were
blocked by some determined Tanners defending.
Leatherhead slowly worked their way into the tie, but they let themselves down with a
series of poor deliveries into the visitors’ box and squandered a number of good
opportunities in front of goal.
Fabio Saraiva missed a golden chance on 28 minutes, latching onto a loose ball
outside the Hornets’ box before shooting well wide of the target.
Tanners came very close to opening the scoring six minutes later, with Gus Sow’s
thunderous shot coming back off the post.
Leatherhead had further chances to break the deadlock in a commanding spell either
side of half time, with Trevan Robinson heading over and Daniel Hector firing just
wide of the post.
On 59 minutes Hector laid off a pass to an advancing Ollie Cook, but the tall Tanners
centre back rushed his shot and fired over from 25 yards.
Alpha Diallo replaced Michael Elechi on 65 minutes, with Tyler Cox switching from
right side wing back to the left, while Diallo took over Cox’s role in providing
Tanners’ major threat down the right.
Horsham brought on Kadell Daniel to reinforce their attack on 67 minutes but the
Guyanese international was unable to break down the resolute Tanners defence.
The hosts held off a string of Hornets’ breaks in the closing stages with the visitors
hardly testing the new Leatherhead keeper despite winning a stream of successive
corners.
Horsham goalkeeper Lewis Carey did well to block a close range effort from Saraiva
on 83 minutes, but thereafter neither side was able to produce a shot on target.
And so the two teams will have to face each other again at Horsham’s Camping
World Community Stadium on Tuesday to determine the outcome of the tie. Kick-off
is at 7.45pm.
Leatherhead: Brian Okonkwo, Tyler Cox, Michael Elechi (Alpha Diallo 65), Jamie
Splatt, Ollie Cook, Fikayo Atewologun, Fabio Saraiva, Kenny Beaney, Trevan
Robinson, Daniel Hector, Gus Sow (Trey Masikini 79)
Horsham: Lewis Carey, Bobby Price, Lee Harding (Kadell Daniel 67), Charlie
Hester-Cook (Charlie Harris 79), Jack Strange, Danny Barker, James Hammond, Jack
Brivio, Shamir Fenelon, Daniel Ajakaiye (Jack Mazzone 79), Tom Richards