Rayners Lane 3 Leatherhead 5
Leatherhead produced a positive attacking display to grab three points against
Rayners Lane at the Tithe Farm Sports & Social Club on Saturday.
Lukas Franzen-Jones gave Tanners the perfect start on nine minutes, skilfully latching
onto a ball played through the middle before placing his shot wide of goalkeeper
Endurance Johnson and into the corner of the net. But amidst his goal celebrations
Franzen-Jones pulled up clutching his ankle and had to be replaced by substitute Ty
Butler.
Rayners Lane were reduced to ten men after 16 minutes when midfielder Mike Hill
was sent off after being shown two yellow cards in quick succession – the first for
taking too long over a free kick, the second for a comment he made to the referee.
The sending off incident was contested at length by the player concerned. But after
initially taking a seat in the home dugout, Hill was forced to make the lonely walk of
shame back to the home dressing room.
With their one-man advantage Leatherhead pressed forward with a clear desire to
build on their early lead. Ruben Bartlett-Antwi and Anuar Ceesay each tested Johnson
with fierce shots before Ty Butler forced a fine close range save from the keeper.
The hosts levelled against the run of play in first half stoppage time. A cross from the
right picked out an unmarked Deshane Dalling at the far post and the recent signing
from Phoenix Sports stroked the ball past Tanners keeper Sonny Wheeler.
The Rayners Lane keeper was severely tested by Leatherhead in the opening minutes
of the second half, but he made some flying saves to deny Kane Fitzgerald, Ty Butler
and Ceesay.
On 51 minutes another Ceesay effort was deflected over the bar for a corner before
George Hedley went close with a header just wide of the post.
Leatherhead’s pressure was rewarded with a second goal on 54 minutes. Ceesay
struck a low shot from the edge of the box which went in off the post.
Rhys Murrell-Williamson added a third goal for Tanners three minutes later with
another low shot beating the keeper.
With Leatherhead now firmly camped in the Rayners Lane half, it was only a matter
of time before they scored again. On 63 minutes, an advancing Bartlett-Antwi was
tripped in the box and Fitzgerald stepped up to fire home Leatherhead’s fourth from
the penalty spot.
In an effort to salvage something from the match Rayners Lane threw caution to the
wind, with Rio Connell forcing an excellent save from Wheeler on 65 minutes.
Bartlett-Antwi missed a good opportunity to add a fifth goal for Tanners on 79
minutes, with his close range shot brushing the top of the crossbar.
A chaotic final five minutes produced three more goals, with both sets of defences
severely stretched.
Skipper Anthony Cook nicked a second goal for Rayners Lane on 87 minutes, before
Leatherhead restored their three-goal advantage two minutes later.
The hosts were unable to clear another Tanners attack, with goalkeeper Johnson
deflecting a shot into the path of Ty Butler who headed home from close range.
Deep in added time Rayners Lane pulled back a third goal, as substitute Frank Kieta
found room in the visitors’ penalty area to head past Wheeler.
Leatherhead will look to build on this performance on Tuesday when they travel to
Hanworth Villa for another league match. Kick-off is at 7.45pm.
Rayners Lane: Endurance Johnson, Anthony Cook, Tariq Straker (Rio Connell 82),
Mike Hill, David Ijaha (Germaine Dua 85), Myles Anderson (Lauran Luke 70), Remy
Bennison, Mohamed Kamara, Elliott Buchanan (Marvin Sordell 45), Josh Green
(Frank Keita 45), Deshane Dalling
Leatherhead: Sonny Wheeler, Kelvin Massango, Anuar Ceesay George Hedley
(Ronnie Spink 81), Niran Butler, Cerny Ando (Adam Morley 68), Marco Haigh,
Lukas Franzen-Jones (Ty Butler 12), Kane Fitzgerald, Alfie Huckle (Rhys Murrell-
Williamson 45), Ruben Bartlett-Antwi