V
Leatherhead 1 – 1 Eastbourne Town
(O’Shea) (Davidson)
Leatherhead could only manage a point in a disappointing 1-1 draw against Eastbourne Town on Tuesday.
The Tanners went into the match on the back of a solid display at Dulwich Hamlet and must have been optimistic for taking three points against a side that had lost at home to Corinthian-Casuals in their previous outing.
Leatherhead boss Mick Sullivan rested Tommy Hutchings from the starting line up, partnering Kwabena Agyei and Dominic O’Shea in attack with support on the wings from Michael Morgan and Josh Smith.
Both sides made a tentative start with defenders quickly resorting to the long, high ball to move play forward.
Leatherhead looked the more creative of the two sides in the opening period. A long clearance from Craig Bradshaw found its way into the Eastbourne penalty area and was cleared behind for a corner. Tony Cuff’s inswinger was met by the head of O’Shea, but was swept away from danger by a tight-knit Town defence.
When Eastbourne got the ball into Leatherhead’s half it was left to Iain Hendry and Chris Boulter to clear up at the back with Bradshaw rarely threatened in the Tanners goal.
Leatherhead had the best chances of the opening half, with shots from Agyei, Cuff and O’Shea testing the Eastbourne keeper. Just before half time, O’Shea was fouled on the edge of the visitors’ box but Cuff’s curling free kick squirmed its way just wide of the post.
The Tanners looked more composed at the start of the second half and began to assert their authority on the game. Leatherhead thought they had gone in front after 55 minutes when Agyei headed home a corner, only for the referee to blow for a challenge on an Eastbourne defender.
Leatherhead made a double substitution on the hour mark, replacing Agyei and Morgan with Hutchings and Kev Terry. The Tanners kept up the pressure on the Eastbourne goal, but against the run of play, the visitors broke away to take the lead on 63 minutes.
In a rare foray into the Leatherhead half, Eastbourne delivered the ball into the Tanners penalty area and in a moment of indecision between Bradshaw, who stayed rooted to his goal line, and the Leatherhead defence, an unmarked Adam Davidson stole in to head home from six yards.
The visitors then slowed the game down with several of their players having to receive treatment for innocuous-looking challenges.
But going a goal down appeared to galvanize the Tanners into launching a wave of attacks on the Eastbourne goal in search of an equaliser.
A corner from Luke Adams on 70 minutes found Boulter unmarked at the far post, but the central defender’s header went just wide of the goal.
Leatherhead’s equaliser finally came on 80 minutes in the best move of the game. Cuff, who had commanded the centre of midfield throughout the match, fed a diagonal ball wide to Smith on the right which split the Eastbourne defence. Smith ran onto the ball and delivered a perfect cross for O’Shea, who beat the keeper to score at the near post.
There was still time remaining for Leatherhead to grab the three points, but some poor finishing in front of goal summed up a frustrating evening for the Tanners.
They must now regroup and prepare themselves for the visit of Bedfont Green in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Leatherhead: Bradshaw, Gunner, Adams, Boulter, Hendry, Nyang, Morgan (Hutchings), Cuff, Agyei (Terry), O’Shea, Smith