Sevenoaks Town 0 Leatherhead 2
Leatherhead produced a strong attacking display to beat Sevenoaks Town in this FA
Cup Preliminary Round tie on a sweltering afternoon at The Bourne Stadium.
Two well-executed goals from Deondre Date and Marco Haigh midway through the
opening half were enough to secure Tanners’ place in Monday’s First Qualifying
Round draw.
Oaks posed little threat to the visitors’ defence as Leatherhead eased their way
through the second half without any further goals.
Tanners suffered a setback after only eleven minutes when Ollie Cook limped off
with a leg injury. And so for the second week running Haigh was brought on as a first
half substitute for the visitors.
Leatherhead grabbed the opening goal on 18 minutes following a terrific burst of pace
from Matt Everitt. The young forward took the ball through the middle of the Oaks’
defence before squaring to Date on his right, who thumped it past goalkeeper Jordan
Perrin from ten yards out.
And before Oaks had time to recover they went further behind two minutes later
following another punishing Tanners break. Once again Everitt was the instigator, this
time setting up Haigh, who broke well clear of his marker before hitting a screamer
past Perrin from the edge of the box.
Tanners missed a chance to add a third goal moments minutes later when Date hit a
wide-angled shot towards goal, only to see the Oaks keeper make a finger-tip save to
turn the ball behind for a corner.
Leatherhead continued to press forward as they sought to extend their advantage in
the run up to half-time.
Tom Kavanagh struck a free kick over the bar on 42 minutes after Anuar Ceesay was
fouled just outside the box.
And Ceesay should have buried another well-worked opportunity for the visitors two
minutes later. Everitt fed a ball through to Haigh who squared it to Ceesay. But the
former Badshot Lea player rushed his effort, firing over from close range.
Tanners maintained their pressure on the hosts in the second half but missed another
good chance to extend their lead on the hour mark. This time it was Ceesay who set
up Haigh, with the young striker firing over with only the keeper to beat.
Leatherhead’s missed opportunities could have proved costly after Sevenoaks made a
series of three attacking substitutions midway through the second half.
Oaks sub Jefferson Aibangbee posed a real threat to Tanners on 66 minutes. His
probing cross from the right was initially blocked in the six-yard box, before another
forward latched onto the loose ball, striking a fierce shot against the outside of the
post.
Leatherhead brought on Trey Masikini for Ceesay on 73 minutes and Tahjae
Anderson replaced Date seven minutes later. Both subs created further chances to
extend the visitors’ lead in the closing minutes.
On 85 minutes, Masikini’s pace took him past two Oaks defenders before his
attempted shot was well blocked. And three minutes later Anderson tested Perrin with
another powerful low strike.
Tanners did well to stifle any late challenges from the hosts and comfortably saw out
seven minutes of added time as they eased their way into the next round of the FA
Cup.
Leatherhead return to league action next Saturday when they host Hartley Wintney at
Fetcham Grove. Kick-off is at 3.00pm.
Sevenoaks Town: Jordan Perrin, Danny Divine, Jahmal Howlett-Mundle, Oliver
Gray, Salim Futa, Dan Duncanson, Sammie McLeod, Rodney Eruotor, Kiye Martin,
Anthony Adesite, Warren Mfula
Leatherhead: Sonny Wheeler, Niran Butler, Kelvin-Manuel Massango, Ollie Cook
(Marco Haigh 11), George Hedley, Kwesi Ntim, Tom Kavanagh, Deondre
Date(Tahjae Anderson 80), Matt Everitt, Anuar Ceesay (Trey Masikini 73), Alfie
Huckle