Thumping win for Leatherhead (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Thumping win for Leatherhead

2:31pm Wednesday 28th December 2011 in Other Football By Rod Ellis

Leatherhead moved up two places with a convincing 4-1 win against bottom-of-the-table Horsham on Boxing Day.

Manager Richard Brady selected the familiar back four of Liam Pestle, Chris Boulter, Dan Dean and Rob Hill, with Jack Pallen, on a month’s loan from Dartford, playing up front with Tom Hutchings.

Tanners dominated possession in the opening exchanges, with a Kev Terry shot turned behind for a corner, an effort from Pallen gathered by Horsham keeper Michael Hunter and another shot from Terry blocked by Seny Diedhiou.

Leatherhead broke the deadlock after 20 minutes with some skilful footwork from Hutchings, pulling the ball back from the dead ball line for Terry to head home unchallenged beneath the crossbar.

Horsham drew level within two minutes. A Tony Nwachukwu cross took a slight deflection on its way to George Landais, who struck the ball perfectly from the edge of the box to beat Chico Ramos in the Leatherhead goal.

But any hopes of a Hornets revival were dashed moments later, as Vernon Francis latched onto a corner from the right to restore Leatherhead’s lead after 24 minutes.

Tanners pressed forward in search of a third goal. A through ball from Francis set up Hutchings for a fierce shot which Hunter did well to turn away for a corner.

Horsham then wasted a golden opportunity to equalise for a second time after 31 minutes.

A defensive mix up between Pestle and Colin Richmond in the centre circle allowed three Hornets players to break clear in the visitors half. Ramos narrowed the angle by coming out to the edge of his area, but the final diagonal pass was way too heavy and the ball was fired into the side netting from a tight angle.

That was the nearest Horsham came to scoring again and Leatherhead increased their lead after 34 minutes. Billy Manners collected the ball on the edge of the Hornets’ box and the tentative Horsham defence failed to close him down, as he placed his shot past Hunter.

Tanners continued to dominate play in the second half with Hutchings given room to create chances by the tiring Hornets defence.

After 67 minutes, the Leatherhead danger man nutmegged Gareth Sanashee on the half way line before advancing on the Horsham goal, taking the ball around a second defender before shooting just wide of the target.

But Hutchings’ determination eventually paid off with a fine goal after 77 minutes, as he collected the ball on the edge of the area to fire past Hunter.

The win takes Leatherhead up to 19th in the table with seven points from their last three outings and Saturday’s match at fellow strugglers Tooting & Mitcham should have a significant bearing on their battle to avoid relegation at the end of the season.

Leatherhead: Ramos, Pestle, Hill, Boulter, Dean, Richmond, Francis, Terry, Pallen (Thompson), Hutchings (Andrews), Manners (Thomas) Unused sub: Nnamani