Leatherhead 1 Walton & Hersham 1
A late Joey Jones penalty for Walton & Hersham denied Leatherhead a win in this
evenly contested pre-season fixture at Fetcham Grove on Saturday.
Tanners appeared to be heading towards a hard fought win until Walton’s Johl Powell
went down in the box in the ninetieth minute following a nudge in the back from a
Leatherhead defender and Jones made no mistake from the spot.
The hosts had taken the lead on 34 minutes after Trey Masikini was tripped in
Walton’s penalty area. Tanners captain Tom Kavanagh stepped up and firmly drove
the spot-kick past the trialist Swans keeper.
Tanners looked at ease against their Southern League neighbours and could have
taken an early lead after 4 minutes when Kwesi Ntim struck the outside of the post
with a speculative long range effort.
Swans missed a chance to go in front four minutes later when Mason Obeng latched
onto a loose clearance from Leatherhead central defender Ollie Cook, forcing a fine
save from Tanners’ keeper Sonny Wheeler.
The visitors threatened again on 18 minutes. Hesitation in the Tanners defence saw
Wheeler having to come out his area to head the ball away from danger. Powell
latched onto the keeper’s half-clearance but fired wide from 30 yards out.
Walton responded positively after going behind. Anis Nuur delivered a probing free
kick from the right into the Leatherhead’s box on 37 minutes and Josh Tobin’s
glancing header flew narrowly over.
Tanners almost doubled their advantage on 53 minutes when the Walton keeper
completely misjudged a long range free kick from Masikini, watching on as the ball
sped past him before it firmly struck the post and rebounded back into play.
Swans had a strong appeal for a penalty waved away on 57 minutes after Dawid
Rogalski went down in the hosts’ penalty area while challenging for the ball.
Leatherhead thought they had secured the win with a second goal on 79 minutes, but
the referee saw a clear obstruction on the Walton keeper and disallowed the goal.
Tanners finished strongly but they were unable to take advantage after winning a
succession of corners in the closing minutes and conceded a late Swans equaliser after
the challenge on Powell.
Leatherhead end their pre-season campaign with an eagerly anticipated fixture against
a Crystal Palace XI at Fetcham Grove on Tuesday evening. Kick-off is at 7.45pm.