VRamsgate 3 - 0 Leatherhead
The Tanners were shown the exit gate from the F A Trophy on Saturday, as the Rams strolled to a 3-0 victory at the Southdown Stadium.
A scrappy affair, not helped by a strong wind, turned against the Tanners in two pivotal moments when they spurned golden opportunities to score and then immediately conceded at the other end.
The first came with just three minutes on the clock, Tommy Hutchings burst into the left hand side of the Ramsgate area and hit a rising shot which seemed destined for the roof of the net until Tim Mott in the home goal leapt and turned the ball over the bar.
The resulting corner came to nothing, and within a minute Rams were ahead when an innocuous looking cross saw a looping header from Liam Quinn arc over Bradshaw who was caught in no mans land, and drop under the bar into the net.
Tanners lost their midfield playmaker Liam Collins to injury after 15 minutes, and this was to be a crucial blow, especially considering the already lengthy injury list.
The strong wind became the dominant factor, with neither side managing to play with any fluency, resulting in a dearth of goal match action.
For the visitors Zak Graham’s mazy run down the right wing midway through the half ended with his cross being hacked clear, but Mott in the home goal was seldom threatened.
Likewise Bradshaw was similarly untroubled with the host’s main threat coming from dead ball situations which were well defended by the dominant aerial presence of Iain Hendry and Chris Boulter at the heart of the Tanner’s defence.
The second half started in the worst possible manner for the Tanners, as a long ball saw Gary Mickleborough run through a static defence and easily round Bradshaw to double the host’s lead.
Any lingering hopes the travelling support had of witnessing another stoic comeback disappeared in the 65th minute.
A cross into the home box wasn’t cleared, the ball fell to Dean Gunner 6 yards out but his skied effort clipped the top of the bar, and when Ramsgate broke from the resulting goal kick, that man Quinn picked up the ball 25 yards out and arrowed a shot into the left hand corner of the goal with Bradshaw left motionless.
The game then petered out, as Ramsgate sat back on their lead, and their only scare was when Tanner’s Kwabena Agyei was felled in the box by a clumsy challenge, but the referee waved appeals for a penalty.
Still, Leatherhead could have few complaints as their fate was sealed by a disappointing lacklustre display, and hopefully one that can quickly banished from memory when Corinthian Casuals visit the Grove on Tuesday evening for a Surrey Senior Cup 1st Round clash.
Leatherhead: Bradshaw, Goodwell, Boulter, Hendry, Coke, Gunner, Graham, (Andrews) Collins (Stevenson), Nyang, Agyei, Hutchings.