Guernsey Press

Classy Leatherhead end GFC's away run

Leatherhead 2, Guernsey FC 0 IT WAS bound to happen at some point in this hugely competitive league and last night, the longest unbeaten Ryman South away run of this campaign shuddered to an emphatic halt.

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Leatherhead 2, Guernsey FC 0

IT WAS bound to happen at some point in this hugely competitive league and last night, the longest unbeaten Ryman South away run of this campaign shuddered to an emphatic halt.

Starting their self-proclaimed 'huge' week of league action, Guernsey FC began with what was arguably their toughest assignment of the season so far, certainly since Crawley Down Gatwick away in August.

And in truth, they never looked like coming out of this big clash with their play-off rivals at Fetcham Grove with anything, from the moment that Ian Draycott gave Leatherhead a ninth-minute lead.

The Green Lions started off far too slowly, albeit without a number of established names and although they did grow into the game, increasing their possession stats as time wore on, they never looked like penetrating a solid home defensive structure.

It was a frustrating evening for the visitors and it is a very rare occurrence to see GFC genuinely test an opposition goalkeeper so rarely – just once – when Deren Ibrahim made a fine fingertip save from Ross Allen's brilliant free-kick late on.

By then, both Draycott and Leroy Griffiths had found the net for a well-drilled and organised Leatherhead outfit, who looked particularly dangerous on the break and, in their two centre-forwards, have a pair of top-quality attackers.

Draycott and their top scorer Tom Bradbrook caused GFC no end of problems and, in the end, it was some fine saves from the excellent stand-in Lions goalkeeper Tom Creed that kept the deficit down.

The absence of Chris Tardif was just one of a number for GFC, who had to change their recent structure to accommodate the lack of wide players who travelled, with Matt Loaring the only genuine winger in the squad.

He worked hard throughout without much reward, while McGrath and even Allen couldn't find a way through a side that showed exactly why they have been at the top end of this league and also in the Ryman Premier, for so many years.

They were a step up from what GFC have come up against for most of this debut season at step four.

However, it is a level that GFC yet again proved they can compete at, albeit after a frustratingly slow start from the side wearing predominantly white on the night.

Leatherhead were quicker to everything early on and knocked the ball around well, particularly through the excellent Tom Parkinson and captain Darren Smith in the middle of the park, pinning GFC back well inside their own half.

And with 9min. on the clock, they had their reward.

Mohamed Eisa was given a bit too much time and slid in to Bradbrook, who brushed aside the GFC defence easily in surging through and reaching the byline.

From there he pulled back to the unmarked Draycott in the middle of the area and the player had enough time to control, swivel and steer into the far corner, giving Creed no chance.

It was soft from GFC's perspective, but it did kick them into gear and they began to see plenty more of the ball, looking comfortable on a lovely playing surface, as they knocked it around confidently.

Tom de la Mare again looked particularly adept at right-back, but despite the pass count rising, the chance tally did not and Leatherhead weren't looking like giving anything away cheaply.

Allen's low cross to McGrath that was cleared was the sum of their attacking efforts, although they had largely closed the gap at the other end, Leatherhead being restricted to similar half-chances at best.

McGrath fired over the bar soon after, although he was offside, while they had a half-hearted appeal for handball turned down in stoppage time, referee Jonathan Cresswick correctly not awarding a spot kick.

But after ending the first half in the ascendancy, GFC would have been reasonably confident of coming back into it after the break, although Leatherhead came close immediately after the restart.

The trend of the match continued with GFC looking decent on the ball, but without a cutting edge, with Allen dropping deeper and deeper in search of joy, but with none forthcoming.

Eisa came closest with a fine curling effort into the far top corner, but Creed made the first of his fine saves, with a backwards fingertip stop on the stretch, as he denied a certain goal.

He then surpassed himself a few minutes later, when Bradbrook was put through by Draycott's brilliant reverse pass and looked like he had successfully gone around Creed, only for the visiting number one to get a crucial, superb, touch on the ball after making himself big.

GFC brought on Kyle Smith for Paris Pereira, but with the Lions starting to push extra bodies forward, they were vulnerable at the other end and with Leatherhead lethal on the break, they sealed the win on 73min.

After clearing a GFC attack, Bradbrook held the ball up under pressure on the halfway line and slid in Draycott, who surged into the area and slid a pass across goal, where substitute Griffiths was on hand at the back post to tap home.

That always looked like being enough and, in truth, it could have been even more, but a combination of decent defending, poor finishing and a couple more good saves from Creed kept the final score to two.

GFC could have made it interesting when Allen went for goal from the left-hand touchline with a stunning curling free-kick, but Ibrahim matched Creed's effort from earlier with a magnificent stretching save.

That just about summed it all up for GFC, who are now without a win in their last three games and were emphatically shown just how tough mounting a successful promotion challenge will be in the coming months.

TEAMS

Leatherhead: Ibrahim, Mahal, Coyle, Nnamawi, D. Parkinson, Semakula, T. Parkinson (Griffiths 66), Smith, Eisa (Burchell 84), Bradbrook, Draycott (Griffin 77).

Guernsey FC: Creed, de la Mare, Le Prevost, Mackay, Martin (Cochrane 77), Black, Heaume, Loaring, Pereira (Smith 66), McGrath, Allen.

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