subedited by Will Steward
Good Evening, I’m Josh Hills and I am at The Dripping Pan for tonights Isthmian league match between Lewes FC and Leatherhead.
Leatherhead come into tonights game in last place and with Lewes’ recent form of 4 wins from 5 puts them as clear favourites tonight and Tony Russell’s team will be looking to build on their 2-6 win away at Margate on the weekend.
TEAM NEWS:
In the 13 matches that these 2 sides have faced against each other, Lewes come out on top with 6 wins, compared to Leatherhead’s 5 wins with 2 draws in there as well
KICK OFF- We have now kicked off here at the Dripping pan, 4 minutes behind schedule but we are underway.
3′- Slow start to the match but Lewes are keeping the ball well and their Keeper, Lewis Carey, looks very composed on the ball with the back line trusting him and his footwork immensely
5′- First bit of action comes from Lewes number 7, Ollie Tanner, who tries picking out the bottom right corner and forced a great save from Leatherhead’s Myles Bowman
12′- A great pass and go from Tanner and Joe Taylor sees Tanner through on goal and he fails to pick out the right corner again, this time not troubling Bowman
13′- Tanner again is at the heart of the action as he drives through Leatherhead with a direct run from within his own half and calls Bowman into action again and wins a corner
14′- Leatherhead see their first attack mounted by Chidubem Onokwai and Jack Skinner foiled by a crunching tackle from Matt Weaire
18′- Tanner continues to get on the ball and drive at Guy Kiangebini, it seems to be only a matter of time until he achieves something from this bombardment. His efforts are met by hundreds of Lewes fans singing ‘Walking in a Tanner wonderland’
22′- Taylor Maloney delivers a delightful ball into the box for Lewes and it just evades Mitchell Nelson whose late back post run nearly gave them the opening here.
27′- Leatherhead are able to get their first promising chance of the match and test Carey, Onokwai’s shot sees Leatherhead have their first chance to get the ball in the box from a corner, which was easily cleared by Kenny Yao
29′- Henry Mabassa drives a low cross into the box for Leatherhead and his number 4 opposition, Matt Weaire easily deals with it
31- Bradley Pritchard floats a ball into the Leatherhead penalty area and it is met by Michael Klass, who can only direct it over the bar
36- YELLOW CARD! Klass’ tackle was deemed a foul by the referee and he kicks the ball away in frustration and sees the first yellow card of the game
37′- YELLOW CARD!- Tom Carlse sprints down the left flank for Lewes on a 30 yard run and Kiangebini drags him down, winning a free kick for Lewes in a dangerous position
39′- GOOOOAAAALLLLL!!! Tanner’s delivery from the free kick was not up to scratch with the rest of his performance, but luckily it fell to Razz Coleman De-Graft who popped it into Taylor’s feet and he was able to perform a great touch and turn and slam it into the roof of the net
43′- RED CARD! Ryan Huckle is off, a long ball up to Taylor saw Huckle struggle to deal with it and as Taylor breezed past the centre back he got a handful of his shirt and pulled him backwards, Leatherhead to continue with 10 men now
44′- GOOOOOAAALLLLLL!!! Maloney takes the free kick and after a deflection from the wall, it treacles into the bottom left corner and Bowman is unable to reach it.
HALF TIME! LEWES 2 LEATHERHEAD 0
Tony Russell will be delighted by Lewes’ performance so far tonight as they dominate the game, looking composed playing out the back and quite frankly should be leading by more, now Leatherhead are down to 10 men The Tanners should be worried about how high the score line might get.
The two standout players of the first half have been Ollie Tanner and Joe Taylor, every time they get on the ball and link up together, the Leatherhead backline look worried and they should be as both of them keep growing into the game it looks as if they’ll stick the ball in the net a few more times in the next 45′
45′ DOUBLE SUBSTITUTION- Leatherhead- Cameron Black comes on for Stephane Bombelenga. Lewes- Killian Colombie replaces Kenny Yao
45′- We are back underway at The Dripping Pan
50′- GOOOAAALLLLLL!!!!- Its only taken 5 minutes for Lewes to score again and Bradley Pritchard’s deflected shot beats Bowman to find the bottom right corner and it is fully deserved after dominating the opening of the second half
57′- Liquid football from Lewes as Klass and Maloney link up with a great passage of play and force a great save out of Bowman.
59′- SUBSTITUTION- Lewes number 10, Freddie Parker replaces Michael Klass
60′- GOOOAAALLLLLL!!! Tanner’s corner is headed back across goal by Weaire and Taylor meets it at the 6 yard box to poke it home and put Lewes 4-0 up!
64′- Tanner at the heart of it again and causes even more pain for Leatherhead as he crosses the ball in for Freddie Parker, but his header sails over the bar
68′- Bowman required to make another save as Tanner again cutting in from the left gets a shot off
70′- SUBSTITUTION- Iffy Allen comes onto the pitch for Lewes to replace Razz Coleman De-Graft
73′- Onokwai has had very little service this game, but he tries a spectacular shot but is unable to find the top right, only the stand behind the goal.
74′- GOOOAALLLLL!! The substitution worked wonders and Iffy Allen bags himself a goal 4 minutes after enter the field of play, Tanner’s original shot thundered against the post and it fell kindly for Allen to tap it home. Lewes now have 5.
80′- The game has began to slow down, Lewes just maintaining possession and the back 4 and keeper have looked extremely composed throughout the game and have handled any slight ounce of pressure tremendously
84′- Tanner must be believing he is cursed tonight as he has done everything but score, his shot evades the keeper but Henry Mabassa slides in behind him and stops it crashing into the bottom corner
93′- Freddie Parker tries to get on the scoresheet but his low driven shot is stopped by Bowman, who’s made an incredible amount of saves today and without him Leatherhead could have been looking at a rugby scoreline.
ITS ALL OVER! LEWES 5 LEATHERHEAD 0
Lewes were by far the better team tonight and the scoreline reflects it, standout performances as mentioned at half time were Ollie Tanner and Joe Taylor. Taylor bagged himself a well earned brace and even though Tanner wasn’t lucky enough to get on the scoresheet, his performance didn’t go unnoticed as the crowd chanted ‘Ollie Tanner, he’s too good for you’, alongside ‘Walking in a Tanner Wonderland’. Lewes’ domination was somewhat halted by a great performance by the Leatherhead goalkeeper, Myles Bowman, as his plethora of saves kept the score relatively respectable.
