VLeatherhead 0 - 0 Croydon Athletic
Leatherhead held on for a point in an entertaining draw against Croydon Athletic, as goalkeeper Craig Bradshaw saved yet another penalty.
The Tanners defence was kept busy all evening as the high flying Rams, scorers of 25 goals in eight League matches, pressed forward at every opportunity. Yet Leatherhead also looked dangerous on the break and had their chances to snatch all three points.
Mick Sullivan rested Iain Hendry in favour of Dan Dean and gave starts to Hassan Nyang and Kwabena Agyei in an otherwise unchanged line up.
The Tanners could have been awarded a penalty after two minutes. Agyei was put through on goal and appeared to be bundled over by a Croydon defender. But the referee’s assistant failed to be moved by the home side’s appeals and play was allowed to continue.
This was a rare attack in the first half, as Leatherhead’s defence had to keep vigilant against Croydon’s blistering pace. The Rams launched a wave of attacks in the opening period with Gary Noel and Danny Waldren testing Bradshaw and the Tanners’ back four of Dean, Chris Boulter, Jon Coke and Adam Goodwell.
Leatherhead had to make an early substitution after 15 minutes. Matt Francis felt the full force of a crunching tackle from Jeremy Williams which saw the Croydon defender booked.
Kev Terry came on for the injured Francis. Yet Terry, making his first appearance after a month’s lay-off through injury, could only stay on the pitch until half time before collecting another knock on his ankle. Terry was replaced for the second half by Greg Andrews.
Croydon managed to get the ball in Leatherhead’s net after 25 minutes, but the goal was ruled out for offside. The Rams continued to look dangerous on the break. Tom Bolarinwa should have hit the target with only Bradshaw to beat but fired his shot over the bar.
Leatherhead were restricted to two clear chances in the opening half. In the first of these Agyei should have hit the target, but fired wide from the edge of the box. Moments later Tommy Hutchings delivered a through ball to Zak Graham but his shot was well blocked by Rams captain, Justin Gregory.
The penalty incident occurred right at the start of the second half. A moment of indecision between Boulter and Bradshaw saw the Tanners defender give the ball away in his area. Coke ran back to defend but collided with a Rams forward bearing down on goal.
Croydon’s top scorer, Gary Noel, stepped up and hit the penalty low to Bradshaw’s left. But the Leatherhead keeper guessed correctly and got down well to save his fourth spot kick out of six since arriving from Walton Casuals at the start of the season.
The match continued to be played at a furious pace but after the penalty miss Croydon’s attack lost some of its cutting edge. The game was generally played in a good spirit, exemplified when Agyei stopped to help the Croydon physio carry Bolarinwa off the pitch after the Rams midfielder went down injured.
Leatherhead could have won the match in the dying minutes when Dean Gunner forced Rams keeper Ross Flitney into making a good save. But the Tanners should be more than satisfied with the point as their resolute defence stood firm to secure a draw against one of the strongest sides in this division.
Leatherhead: Craig Bradshaw, Jon Coke, Adam Goodwell, Chris Boulter, Dan Dean, Hassan Nyang, Matt Francis (Kev Terry, Greg Andrews), Dean Gunner, Kwabena Agyei, Tommy Hutchings, Zak Graham.