Lewes thrash Leatherhead as they continue their challenge for the top three

Credit: Kieran Gallop

The Rooks moved to within a point of the top three after their impressive 5-0 victory over the struggling Tanners. 

The game pitted two sides on very different ends of the spectrum. Heading into the encounter, Lewes sat just outside a play-off spot in sixth place whilst Leatherhead were rock bottom and without a win since the opening game of the season.

In the opening exchanges, it wasn’t difficult to tell which side was just four points off top spot and which side had only mustered a measly four points in 10 games.

Former Bromley man Ollie Tanner caused Leatherhead all sorts of problems on the left-hand side, using his brilliant footwork to go past players and cut inside.

This almost saw Lewes take an early lead as the 19-year-old cut onto his favoured right foot and fired a shot just wide of the target.

Tanner was once again at the forefront of Leatherhead’s problems moments later as he linked up well with Joe Taylor to set up a golden opportunity, only for the youngster to glaringly miss a one-on-one opportunity. 

Midway through the first half, Leatherhead looked to get the better of their hosts in a hard-hitting midfield battle and earned themselves some much-needed possession. As a result of this, lone striker Darnell Kithambo was brought into the game and served up a couple of scares for Lewis Carey in the Lewes goal with some decent efforts from the edge of the area. 

However, it was the hosts who broke the deadlock in this contest. In the 39th minute, Joe Taylor broke into the box and lifted an effort into the top corner of the Leatherhead goal.

This was just the beginning of the Tanners’ demise, however, as just moments later, an already difficult assignment was made even harder.

Just before the break, a long ball over the top troubled Leatherhead’s Ryan Huckle as he was being hunted down by Lewes’ Razzaq Coleman De-Graft, and a failed clearance left an opening for the Rooks’ winger to go one-on-one.

In a state of desperation, Huckle brought down Lewes’ number 18, giving the referee no choice but to dismiss the Leatherhead captain. Things went from bad to worse for the visitors as the resulted free-kick from Taylor Maloney found its way into the back of the net via a hefty deflection. 

Unfortunately, when you find yourself at the bottom of the league, it rarely just rains and often pours. Just five minutes into the second half, former Charlton Athletic and Leyton Orient man Bradley Pritchard linked up with Joe Taylor before comfortably stroking the ball home to kill off the contest.

After turning provider, Joe Taylor got back to his scoring ways, bagging his brace with a well-placed header that was scrambled into the net despite desperate attempts to block it on the line.  

At 4-0 down and with only 10 men, it would be somewhat forgivable if the Leatherhead players let their heads drop. The visitors actually did the opposite as they continued to fight for every ball and for a period of time were getting forward and looking to get on the scoresheet themselves.

The proverbial icing was eventually put on the cake for Lewes as substitute Iffy Allen fired home a shot rebounding off the post just moments after coming on. The hosts continued to flex their muscles for the rest of the game and perhaps should have scored more but the goal tally remained at five as the final whistle went. 

It is always a shame when a contest gets killed off by a red card decision, but there can be absolutely no complaints from Leatherhead whatsoever regarding the sending off itself.

The Tanners’ coaches will be disappointed because up until that point they were very much in the game. Lewes, on the other hand, looked dangerous on a number of occasions even prior to the red card and were extremely professional about their business once they had the personnel advantage. 

Lewes now have over a week to prepare for a top of the table local derby clash between themselves and Worthing. Meanwhile, for Leatherhead, they will be on the road again this weekend as they travel to AFC Hornchurch in a desperate search for their first win in 10 games. 

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