South Park (Reigate) 1 Leatherhead 2
Leatherhead picked up a second win in four days against South Park in remarkably
similar circumstances to Tuesday night’s FA Cup win at Fetcham Grove.
Tanners took a two goal lead into the break at Whitehall Lane, scoring a spectacular
second moments before half-time, with Sparks pulling a goal back in the second half
and pressing forward in vain in search of a late equaliser.
With Monday’s Bank Holiday fixture against Westfield firmly in mind, Leatherhead
manager Hayden Bird rested Kenny Beaney and Dan Hector from the stating eleven,
replacing them with Trevan Robinson and Trey Masikini.
Sparks came close to opening the scoring after six minutes with Aiden Brown testing
Leatherhead keeper Mikey Allen with a rasping effort from 25 yards.
Fabio Saraiva responded in turn for Tanners three minutes later, forcing a smart save
from goalkeeper Danny Bracken with a fiercely driven shot.
South Park were content to allow Leatherhead to keep possession without posing a
threat for much of the opening half, until the hosts needlessly conceded a penalty after
38 minutes.
Michael Elechi had his shirt tugged by a Sparks’ defender as he threatened inside the
box and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. With neither of
Leatherhead’s recognised penalty takers available, Gus Sow stepped forward and
dispatched the penalty low to the keeper’s right.
Tanners doubled their lead in first half stoppage time after Robinson was brought
down just outside the Sparks’ penalty area. Saraiva struck a sublime free kick over a
wall of defenders and into the top right hand corner of the net.
Tyler Cox missed a chance to add a third for Tanners on 61 minutes. The young wing
back latched onto a loose ball on the half way line and his blistering pace took him
unchallenged towards the South Park goal. Cox took the ball to the edge of the box
but fired over the bar with only Bracken in front of him.
That miss could have proved costly for Leatherhead as Sparks pulled a goal back
three minutes later. The Tanners’ defence momentarily switched off as they conceded
a throw in deep in their own half and failed to clear a loose ball from their penalty
area, allowing Craig McGee to fire home from close range.
South Park pressed forward in search of an equaliser but rarely tested the Tanners
defence in the closing half hour.
Hector and Beaney came on for Leatherhead after 76 minutes and it was Hector who
produced the best chance of adding to the visitors’ lead deep in stoppage time. The
Tanners striker latched onto a long clearance from Allen and took the ball around
Bracken before seeing his wide-angled shot cleared off the line by a Sparks’ defender.
Tanners go into Monday’s match against Westfield as one of only three teams in their
division with maximum points from their opening two league fixtures.
South Park: Danny Bracken, Jack Tucker, Kelvin Manuel Massango, Craig McGee,
Ethan Kaiser, Ryan Healey, Deondre Date, Brendan Murphy-McVey, Aiden Brown,
Ben Jordan (Sam King 70), Kieran Lavery
Leatherhead: Mikey Allen, Tyler Cox, Michael Elechi, Fikayo Atewologun, Ollie
Cook, Jamie Splatt, Fabio Saraiva, Gus Sow, Trevan Robinson (Dan Hector), Trey
Masikini (Kenny Beaney 76), Omarr Lawson (Jerry Puemo 90)