The Moles leave Leatherhead in defeat (but with their heads held high) on Saturday afternoon after a determined performance.
Leatherhead almost took the lead after just two minutes as a half-clearance from an early Tanners corner fell to Beaney, whose effort from just outside the penalty area was crashed against the underside of the crossbar before eventuality being cleared.
The early Leatherhead pressure paid off though when Ibrahim Olutade was on hand to slot the ball under Killian Barrett after a square ball from Trevan Robinson set him up perfectly for the finish.
It was then when the hosts started to pile the pressure on the Moles, through a series of corners but Binfield managed to deal with them well.
Tyler D’Cruz was forced off for the Moles on 25 minutes after a slight muscle problem meant he had to be treated on the field of play before eventually being replaced by Jake Fisher.
It was then the Moles’ turn to put Leatherhead under pressure, when a brilliant touch from Rahzir Smith-Jones allowed him to splay a tidy ‘one-two’ with Rechan Esprit before firing a shot over the bar from the edge of the area.
The Moles then had the ball in the back of the net, and thought they’d found an equaliser through Manuchim Oke-William, but his effort was ruled out by the assistant referee.
From the resulting indirect free-kick, Leatherhead looked to counter and had a goal ruled out themselves just a minute later when Olutade had the ball in the back of the net for the second time, but failed to beat the Binfield offside-trap when he made his way into the box.
The start of the second-half saw no major chances for either side until some tricky footwork on the right from Connor Jeanes’ quick footwork on the left gave him some space to cross to Dontaye Whittaker whose header from close range went over the bar.
Leatherhead then doubled their lead through Trey Masikini on the 70th minute through a quick counter attack… The substitute, combined with Tyler Cox before rifling a shot into the top corner from the edge of the box.
The hosts nearly added a third goal with just minutes remaining but Killian Barrett did well to deny Masikini his second of the afternoon, with a low block with his legs.
Next up for the Moles is Northwood FC on Tuesday night, at The Iconic Stadium.
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