Sittingbourne 1-1 Leatherhead

Sunday 08th April 2007
Sittingbourne captain James Campbell was rested for this game in order to give his groin injury longer to mend.   He should, however, be fit for the “away” game to Maidstone Road at Bourne Park on Easter Monday (kick off 11am), writes Peter Pitts.
The game was preceded by a minutes silence in memory of ex supporters club chairman Tony Woods who died last week.
This was a game against two evenly matched sides, who would both had hoped to have faired better in the league following their early season form. 

Leatherhead though can still make the play offs so a win for them was vital.
However, this hope all but disappeared on 5 minutes when Sittingbourne took the lead through leading scorer Mark Lovell who although not connecting with the ball as well as he might like still managed to steer it between the diving Tanner's keeper Paul Borg and his right hand post.

Leatherhead never looked the side that faced Sittingbourne at Fetcham Grove way back in August, but they still managed to carve out opportunities that luckily for the Brickies they squandered.

The first of these came on 16 minutes when a wayward shot by Steve Sargent flew well wide of the Brickies goal.

A minute later the Tanners had an even better chance to equalise when Scott Bennetts found himself in the Sittingbourne area with just keeper Steve Williams to beat but the shot trickled into Williams arms.

Sittingbourne then had a golden opportunity themselves to score when Lovell raced up the right and sent in a great cross that Lee Browning struck first time but the Brickies latest scoring sensation fired narrowly wide.

It was to be a frustrating time for Browning as time and time again Sittingbourne lobbed the ball up in the air giving him little chance against the robust Leatherhead defence.

Sittingbourne were now having the better of the play and a Joe Dowley cross field pass found Kieran Marsh who saw his shot deflected for a corner.

Sittingbourne actually had the ball in the net again on 28 minutes through a far post header from Paul Ainsworth following a corner but referee Mr P Harris rightly disallowed the effort for pushing.

Leatherhead went into the break a goal down but they began the second with purpose and could have equalised on 51 minutes if it wasn't for a last ditch saving challenge from Williams.

Two minutes later Marc Charles-Smith intercepted a clearance, cut inside and sent in a stinging shot which flew just over the Brickies bar.

Leatherhead were looking dangerous and on 57 minutes they did finally equalise when the ball was punted up to Julien Thompson just inside the Brickies penalty area, out raced Williams but Thompson just beat him to the ball and curled it  into the net.

Sittingbourne steadied the ship and on 60 minutes Browning and Lovell combined, the move ending in Lovell firing narrowly over.

Nine minutes later Leatherhead captain Jamie Beer evaded a couple of challenges but failed to get hold of his shot and Williams safely gathered.

A minute later it was Sittingbourne's turn to have a go this time through Lee Hockey who headed a free kick wide.

A smart move between Lovell and Anthony Hogg on 78 minutes ended in a crashing shot by Hogg but the ball was blocked by a defender.

The game was now end to end and on 81 minutes Williams did well to hold a shot from James Greenaway.

A minute later and it was back to the other end, this time Lovell's header looked goal bound until a defender headed the ball over the bar.

Luckily for Sittingbourne Leatherhead’s poor finishing continued right up to the final whistle with substitute Joe Sheerin, the latest culprit as his tame shot was easily gathered by the commanding Williams. 

Sheerin
once came on as a substitute for Chelsea in the Premiership replacing Gianfranco Zola.

In the end a draw was a fair result between two evenly matched teams.

Sittingbourne: Williams, Knowles, Dowley, Ainsworth, Hockey (Ashmore 70), Marsh, Hogg, Searle (Neal 70), Lovell, Browning, Sherwood, Subs: Akhazzan, Trabelsi, Willis

Attendance: 166