LEATHERHEAD 0 BROMLEY 5 – LEAGUE 18/10/03

A fantastic display in the final 28 minutes of the second half saw Bromley seal a great win over last season’s FA Cup nemesis Leatherhead. The whole game turned on Leroy Huggins second goal on 62 mins. Until that point either side could have won it.

The game saw Bromley start brightly, with McKoy tormenting Tanners right back Tavares and being repeatedly fouled for his troubles. On 17 mins Danny Smith sent a fierce cross shot in from the right and Huggins turned it past Gray for 1-0. Leatherhead came right back into the game from that point and had a good penalty shout turned down before things levelled out and the half descended into a series of offsides. Bromley debutant James Gardiner had to go off injured and was replaced by John Wilfort, returning from a long term injury himself. 1-0 at the break and the next goal looking vital.

The Tanners started the second half on top and should have drawn level when poor communication saw a Bromley free kick rolled across the area with Harwood standing behind the kick taker. With an open goal gaping Luckett was quick enough to make a last ditch tackle and turn the ball wide. From the following corner the ball was cleared off the line from a header and the Ravens were on the rack! Bromley started to regain some composure and it was at that point that Leatherhead’s offside trap was sprung for the first of many times in the next half hour. Huggins ran through, blasting his shot over, but it was clear that the home defence were going to be susceptible to a long ball over the top and a quick run. On 62 mins with the game in the balance a carbon copy of the first goal saw Huggins make it 2-0 and now there was only going to be one winner. On 75 mins Huggins played a great ball into Reid and he fooled the keeper into letting the ball roll past him for 3-0. Only two minutes later Reid got put through one on one and kept a cool head rounding Gray and placing the ball into the net for 4. Reid then hobbled off and young Charlie Vines came on to further torment the bruised and weary Tanners defence. On 84 mins young Vines was played in and he also took his one on one with a very cool head to make it 5-0. It’s no exaggeration to say that if it wasn’t for Justin Gray in the home goal it could have been many more. Jason McKoy bossed the game in midfield and sub John Wilfort was excellent and unlucky to hit a post with a fierce drive. Luckett gave a strong captains performance and the whole team stepped up and showed that they had moved on from the cup defeat and were serious about the league campaign.

Quote for the game: ‘And Justice For All...’

Team: Harwood, Potterill, Willy, J Vines, Luckett, Smith, McKoy, Drewett, Reid, Huggins, Gardiner.

Subs: C Vines, Amoako, Butler, Watts, Wilfort.