Blues 1 Leatherhead 2

The Blues suffered successive home defeats as Leatherhead recovered from an early goal to claim the points. Matt Blake fired the hosts ahead against the run of play, racing clear on goal before finishing well. Tom Derry’s equaliser saw Leatherhead deservedly level at the interval. Despite early Blues pressure in the second half it was Leatherhead who scored the third goal of the game, Player Manager Sammy Moore collecting a stray pass before beating Marcus Garnham.

Glen Driver kept the same side that defeated Needham Market on New Year’s Day as Leiston looked for another three points but it was the visitors who began on the front foot and dominated possession early on. Niall McManus had the first effort of note, but his shot was deflected off Joe Marsden for a corner. From the resultant ball in, Jack Midson headed wide when well placed. Leiston’s first chance came as Seb Dunbar delivered a good cross from the left hand side but visiting keeper Zaki Oualah cleared away with his feet. Marcus Garnham punched away two dangerous free kicks from ex Ipswich player Sammy Moore. Sean Clohessy got forward from right back and his shot looked to have found the back of the net but Joe Marsden cleared the ball off the line. Against the run of play Leiston took the lead. Matt Blake over ran a ball but the Leatherhead defender miss-controlled allowing Matt Blake through one on one with Oualah and finish into the keeper’s bottom right hand corner. Marcus Garnham palmed away another Leatherhead shot but the Surrey team equalised when Tom Derry took advantage after a ball fell invitingly off Tom Bullard to slot beyond Marcus Garnham. Leatherhead nearly took the lead with the final kick of the half but Marcus Garnham got down well to his left hand side to save from Jack Midson.

Leiston started the second half well and had a couple of half chances, the best coming when Patrick Brothers turned Christy Finch’s cross wide. But it was Leatherhead who went ahead as Joe Marsden’s miss placed pass found Sammy Moore who had the easy task of slotting under Marcus Garnham’s despairing dive. Niall McManus saw an effort wide of the target and an attempt hit a post before Leiston started to become the more dominant team. Boss Driver made a triple sub, bringing on Kyle Hammond, Rob Eagle and Dominic Docherty and they were soon in the thick of the action. Rob Eagle had a good header from a Kyle Hammond cross that Oualah somehow kept out and Patrick Brothers volleyed wide on the edge of the area. In the 88th minute Chris Henderson was thwarted by the legs of Oualah from close range. In the sixth minute of injury time, Byron Lawrence struck the Leatherhead crossbar, and with Leiston players reacting to this, Oualah just got to the ball in front of Joe Jefford to claw away and give his side all the points.

FT - Blues 1 Leatherhead 2

Blues - Garnham, Marsden (Hammond 68 mins), Dunbar, Brothers (Docherty 68 mins), Jefford, Bullard, Lawrence, Henderson, Blake (Eagle 68 mins), Finch, Ainsley. Subs not used - Haynes-Brown and Trotter.

Leatherhead - Oualah, Clohessy, Richards, Arthur, Nnamani (Williams-Bowers 88 mins), Pollock, McManus, Moore (Minshull 79 mins), Derry (Wood 90 mins), Midson, Gallagher. Sub not used - Cash

Man of the Match - Seb Dunbar.

Attendance - 255.