Leatherhead 2 – 2 Wealdstone (4-3 pens)
Leatherhead3-4(P)
WealdstoneWealdstone crashed out of this season’s League Cup, losing on penalties to Leatherhead in what was a repeat of the 2009/10 final.
It was the hosts, fresh from their impressive weekend victory over Billericay in the FA Cup, who started the brighter of the two
sides and took an early lead when Kevin Terry ran from inside his own half before unleashing an effort from the edge of the box which deceived Jonathan North and found its way into the back of the net.
Greg Andrews then came close to extending his side’s lead, however Jonathan North did well to save the strikers volleyed effort.
After failing to get a foothold on the game early on, Wealdstone managed to pull level with what was their first attack of the
evening when after Leatherhead ‘keeper Chico Ramos had made an excellent block to deny Ricky Miller, Richard Jolly was on hand to poke home the rebound.
Leatherhead looked to respond straight away, and they thought they had taken the lead again just before half time when Jack Macleod bundled the ball in, however the effort was ruled out for hand ball.
The Tanners began the second half in the same fashion as the first, and they restored their lead when Andrews finished superbly from the right hand side of the box, thumping the ball into the far corner of the net.
The impressive Terry then brought the best out of Jonathan North with an effort which was met by a super flying save from the former Watford ‘keeper.
Richard Jolly managed to force an equaliser for Stones with 10 minutes to play, once again seizing on a loose ball after Ramos had spilled Nikki Ahamed’s effort into his path with the experienced striker making no mistake from close range.
Stones could have won it late on, however Tanner’s defender Dan Dean was in the right place at the right time to clear an effort from Ricky Miller who had got in behind the defence and looked to have slotted past Ramos.
With neither side able to snatch a winner, the tie went straight to penalties and after Richard Jolly had hit the bar with Wealdstone’s first penalty, Lee Chappell, Sean Cronin and Alex Dyer scored the next three. Dan Dean, Greg Andrews and Tom Hutchings scored the first three for Leatherhead before Nick Reeves smashed his effort onto the crossbar. With one penalty each remaining Scott McCubbin stepped forward for Stones, however his effort was saved by Chico Ramos leaving Jamie Coyle to slot home the winning penalty for the home side.
Wealdstone: North, Ahamed, Chappell, Parker, Cronin, O’Leary, Parsons, Brooks, Miller, Jolly. Subs: Dyer, McCubbin, Hicks, Hammond, Adjei.
By Stuart Warren
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