Marlow 4 Leatherhead 0
Leatherhead suffered their heaviest defeat of the season to date with a poor
performance at Marlow on Saturday.
Two goals from Josh Boorn and another from Ben Mulley gave Marlow a three goal
advantage with only 32 minutes played. And the match became totally unsalvageable
for Tanners after Dawid Rogalski added a fourth goal for the hosts on 47 minutes.
Leatherhead manager Hayden Bird stuck by the same starting eleven that had dug in
deep to grind out a 3-1 Surrey Senior Cup win in midweek against Abbey Rangers.
But Marlow were always going to be a much tougher proposition for Tanners.
The hosts came into the match on the back of four successive league wins. And it
soon became clear that they were looking to make it five in a row as they eased their
way into the lead on six minutes.
Rogalski skilfully worked his way past Leatherhead’s Fikayo Atewologun and bore
down on goal before squaring to Boorn for a calm finish from the edge of the box.
Tanners looked vulnerable each time Marlow pressed forward and almost conceded a
second on 13 minutes as Rogalski forced a fine save from goalkeeper Mikey Allen.
Marlow doubled their lead on 21 minutes as Rogalski once again capitalised on a
breakdown in play in midfield before picking out Boorn for an almost carbon copy of
his first goal, as the unchallenged striker fired past Allen with ease.
Two minutes later Leatherhead were left exposed at the half way line as Rogalski,
Boorn and Mulley made a triple assault on goal. But on this occasion Mulley was
unable to pack any power into his shot and Allen saved comfortably.
Long throw-in specialist Elijah Oladunjoye created havoc in the visitors’ defence on
26 minutes, launching a powerful throw deep into the Tanners penalty area.
Atewologun was unable to gauge the flight of the ball correctly and his glancing
header went agonisingly just wide of the post and behind for a corner.
Marlow continued to dominate with Mulley firing wide on 27 minutes.
Tanners briefly looked capable of creating chances going forward. Marlow’s Louis
Rogers was booked on 29 minutes for a cynical challenge on Daniel Hector as the
Leatherhead striker lined up a shot from just outside the box. But Omarr Lawson was
unable to keep the ball down from the resulting free kick with his firmly struck shot
flying over the bar.
Marlow added a third goal on 32 minutes as Tanners failed to deal with a Josh
Masters corner. With no one taking responsibility to clear, the ball dropped like a
stone on the edge of the six yard box and Mulley stuck out a boot to poke it past Allen
and in off the post.
Tanners almost pulled one back just before half time when Kenny Beaney delivered a
corner deep into the hosts’ penalty area. Atewologun headed the ball down towards
goal but a defender scrambled it away off the line.
Leatherhead made a double substitution at the start of the second half, with Alpha
Diallo replacing Michael Elechi in defence and club captain Dave Tarpey, making a
return after two months absence on loan, coming on in place of Lawson.
But any hopes of a Tanners revival were quickly dashed as Marlow added a fourth
goal within three minutes of the restart. Masters delivered a probing free kick into the
heart of the visitors’ penalty area and Rogalski rose unchallenged to head home.
It could have got even worse for the beleaguered visitors. Deep in added time Marlow
sub Naheer-Omar Nawaf broke clear at half-way for a one-on-one against Allen. The
Leatherhead keeper made his way to the edge of the box to narrow the angle, but
Nawaf failed to keep the ball down and his effort sailed high over the bar.
Tanners will have to dust themselves down and quickly put this sorry display behind
them as they prepare to face high flying Raynes Park Vale next Saturday at Fetcham
Grove.
Marlow: Aaron Watkins, Elijah Oladunjoye, Josh Masters, Chris Ovenden, Sebastian
D’Aversa (Brandon Curtis 73), Louis Rogers, Ben Mulley, Josh Boorn (Malachi
Talent-Aryeetey 73), Rhys Harper, Kai Hamilton-Olise (Naheer-Omar Nawaf 62),
Dawid Rogalski
Leatherhead: Mikey Allen, Tyler Cox, Michael Elechi (Dave Tarpey 46), Fikayo
Atewologun, Ollie Cook, Jamie Splatt (Trevan Robinson 73), Gus Sow, Kenny
Beaney, Tommy Stagg, Daniel Hector, Omarr Lawson (Alpha Diallo 46)