Leatherhead 3 Blues 3

Leiston missed the opportunity to extend their lead further at the top of the Ryman Premier Division as a goal deep into stoppage time meant the sides shared the points at Fetcham Grove. The visitors looked to be heading for three more important points but as the clock reached the ninetieth minute Jimmy Bullard’s side found a second wind, scoring twice, the second in stoppage time, to seal a comeback that stunned the leaders. Leiston made one change to the starting line up that was victorious at Hungerford Town in the FA Cup with Seb Dunbar preferred to Patrick Brothers at left back with Brothers on the bench alongside new signing Jake Hutchings who signed from Grays Athletic on Tuesday. Leatherhead occupied one of the four relegation places pre kick off but they had improved of late under Jimmy Bullard in this, their third fixture against a Suffolk side in four games after a draw with Needham Market and a win at AFC Sudbury. The Blues got off to the perfect start, opening the scoring after just five minutes. Centre half Joe Jefford unmarked to meet a Gareth Heath corner for his third goal of the season. Fifteen minutes later the lead was doubled following a fine individual goal from Joe Francis. Picking up the ball in his own half he raced towards the visitor’s goal ghosting through the home defence before finding the net, a fine goal. The hosts gradually got themselves into the game but while they started to boss possession, they failed to trouble the visitors in the final third. But eleven minutes into the second period they halved the deficit, Richard Seixas capitalising on some hesitancy in the Leiston box to rifle home. The fightback looked to be dampened twelve minutes later as Jack Ainsley latched onto a weak punched clearance by Joe Taylor to cleverly lift the ball back into the net for the third Blues goal. Seemingly with the points in the bag Leiston made a trio of substitutions as they looked to close the game out and frustrate the hosts who were working hard to get back into the game. As the clock ticked down towards full time there were no real dramas but then substitute Kieran Hughes-Mason, only on the field for five minutes, became the key figure in what was to follow. First he smacked an effort against the post and then as the ball ran loose Callum Davies attempted to capitalise on the rebound but substitute Jake Hutchings was adjudged to have fouled him, Guiseppe Sole stepped up to fire home the resulting spot kick. Surely it was merely a late consolation but Leatherhead sensed more and piled forward in numbers and in the fifth minute of stoppages, Kieran Hughes-Mason showed great composure under pressure to round Jacob Marsden to crash home the equaliser that shattered the visitors. On possession alone, a point a piece was fair result, a point that moved the hosts out of the bottom four, extends the leaders advantage to four points and also extends the unbeaten League of the Blues run to eleven games.

FT - Leatherhead 3 Blues 3

Leatherhead - Taylor, Mahal (Moncur 71 mins), Fenlon (Hughes-Mason 85 mins), Semakula, Parr, Nnamani, Lopes, Sole, Adeloye, Seixas (Kamara 71 mins), Davies. Subs not used - Bailey and Francis.

Blues - Marsden, Brown, Dunbar, Ainsley, Jefford (Hutchings 78 mins), Bullard, Lawrence, Heath, Blake, Finch (Winter 82 mins), Francis (Schaar 86 mins). Subs not used - Brothers and Pelling.

Man of the Match - Tom Bullard

Attendance - 225