Leatherhead 3 Metropolitan Police 2

Leatherhead were made to dig deep to overcome Metropolitan Police 3-2 at Fetcham
Grove on Saturday.

Tanners led twice but were pegged back each time by a stubborn Blues side,
conceding two debateable penalties against the run of play, before departing skipper
Tom Kavanagh drilled home a late winner for the hosts.

It was a fitting finish for the popular Leatherhead midfielder, marking his final
appearance for the club before moving out to Dubai next month with his partner and
their young family.

As well as saying goodbye to their team captain, it was also a day of emotional
reunions at Fetcham Grove.
Several members of Leatherhead’s 1974/75 side were in attendance to mark the
fiftieth anniversary of the club’s remarkable FA Cup Fourth Round tie against
Leicester City at Filbert Street, where Tanners had famously led 2-0 at half-time
before ultimately losing 3-2 against their top flight opponents.
There were also welcome returns for Tyler Cox and Kenny Beaney, both members of
last season’s squad and both making their first appearances of the current season for
the club.

Neither Tanners nor Blues were able to produce a clear scoring opportunity in the
opening exchanges. But that all changed on 24 minutes with a truly spectacular goal
from Leatherhead’s Ruben Bartlett-Antwi.

Seeing goalkeeper Liam Beach off his line, the Tanners forward launched a powerful
strike from thirty yards out that flew over the Blues custodian and into the top corner
of the net.

Tanners almost doubled their advantage four minutes later. Rhys Murrell-Williamson
fired a thunderous shot from twelve yards out that struck Beach in the chest before the
ball was eventually cleared away to safety.
Blues equalised on 35 minutes when a penalty was awarded in their favour after
Tanners’ central defender Cerny Ando and Blues forward Sidney Gbla challenged for
a loose ball on the edge of Leatherhead’s six yard box.

Following a short delay for treatment to a clearly injured Ando, the visitors’ Louis
Degand calmly stepped forward and buried the spot kick in the corner of the net.
Both sides created chances to take the lead in the early stages of the second half.
Leatherhead’s Lukas Franzen-Jones tested Beach with a shot on the turn before Blues
midfielder Laurence Beach broke clear of his marker at the half way line and fired a
wide-angled shot into the side netting.

Murrell-Williamson tested Beach with another rasping effort on 59 minutes before
Leatherhead restored their lead six minutes later with a fast-paced fluid break
involving several players and finished off with a flourish by Jamarie Brissett.
Tanners should have added a third goal on 73 minutes, but once again Murrell-
Williamson was denied by another fine save from Beach.

Blues came back at the hosts on 83 minutes when Tanners keeper Sonny Wheeler
turned behind a fierce drive from Gbla. The ensuing corner was delivered to the far
post and headed down onto the arm of a Tanners defender.
The referee immediately pointed the spot as he blew for a second penalty for the
visitors. Degand once again stepped forward, this time outsmarting the diving
Wheeler by stroking the ball down the middle.

With three minutes of normal time remaining, Kavanagh pumped a long cross into the
Blues’ box and that evaded everyone on its way past Beach. It was a fitting end to the
Leatherhead skipper’s six month’s spell at the club as he was immediately substituted
to the sound of loud applause from around the ground.

Tanners saw out six minutes of added time to collect another three points and extend
their unbeaten run to eight matches in all competitions, while consolidating their
eleventh-placed position in the league table.

Leatherhead return to action on Tuesday when they entertain Guernsey in a
rearranged league match at Fetcham Grove. Kick-off is at 7.45pm.

Leatherhead: Sonny Wheeler, George Hedley, Cerny Ando (Anuar Ceesay 49), Niran
Butler, Tyler Cox, Tom Kavanagh (Kenny Beaney 89), Alfie Huckle, Lukas Franzen-
Jones, Rhys Murrell-Williamson (Marco Haigh 89), Jamarie Brissett (Kane Fitzgerald
75), Ruben Bartlett-Antwi (Ty Butler 90+4)

Met Police: Liam Beach, Izvnna Ikebuasi (Daghan Basaranoglu 80), Cadell Fraser
Robinson (Alfie Walters 75), Ryan Davey, Laurence Ernest, Joshua Bassey (Igor De
Oliveira Souza 81), Charlie Brown, Benjamin Mendoza, Sidney Gbla, Louis Degand,
Jamal Sharpe (Isaac Nkosi 87)