VLeatherhead 0 – 0 Kingstonian
Leatherhead ended their pre-season campaign with a well-attended friendly fixture against last season’s Division One South champions Kingstonian. The Tanners matched their local rivals in all departments in an evenly contested match which produced few goal scoring opportunities for either side.
Mick Sullivan brought in ex Corinthian-Casuals shot stopper Colin Harris for an injured Craig Bradshaw and gave starts to trialists Jason Pinnock and Hassan Nyang.
Leatherhead were allowed plenty of early possession by Ks and had the first real goal scoring chance after 15 minutes. Tommy Hutchings struck a shot from the edge of the area, forcing a good save from Luke Garrard in the Kingstonian goal.
The best chance of the opening half fell to Ks after 38 minutes, when a free kick was floated through the Leatherhead box and struck the woodwork before being headed away for a corner by a quick thinking Iain Hendry.
Although this was nowhere nearly as physical a match as Leatherhead’s midweek encounter with Tooting and Mitcham, there were still plenty of heavy challenges during the first half. Josh Smith felt the full force of a crunching tackle from Lewis Cook, leaving the referee no option other than to caution the Ks player.
As the game approached half time the Ks began to asset their authority and increased the pressure on the Tanners defence. Opportunities fell first to Francis Duku and then Tommy Williams, but the match remained goalless going into the break.
Leatherhead made three changes at the start of the second half with Dan Dean, K Agyei and Sam Morgan replacing Iain Hendry, Dominic O’Shea and Josh Smith. As the game wore on it was Kingstonian who had the better chances to score. A Jamie Beer header was cleared away for a corner, while efforts from Carl Wilson-Denis and NJ Lampton passed wide of the Tanners goal.
Leatherhead’s best opportunity came with five minutes remaining, when K Agyei ran through the Kingstonian defence only to see his effort go wide of the goal.
Colin Harris was certainly kept the busier of the two keepers, as Luke Garrard was rarely tested in the second half but overall this was an entertaining display from two sides anxious not to get any injuries in the final days before the Ryman League season gets under way. Leatherhead manager Mick Sullivan now has a clear week to shape his squad before the opening fixture against Worthing.
Team: Colin Harris, James Hancock, Luke Adams, Chris Boulter, Iain Hendry (Dan Dean), Jason Pinnock (Dean Gunner), Ross White, (Craig Phelps), Hassan Nyang, Dominic O’Shea (Kwabena Agyei), Tommy Huchings, Josh Smith (Sam Morgan)