Hartley end home campaign with defeat to their mid-table rivals

HARTLEY Wintney concluded their Isthmian League South Central campaign with a home loss against mid-table rivals Leatherhead in front of a decent crowd of 448 on Saturday.

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The Tanners took the lead on 36 minutes when a Matt Everitt corner was firmly headed home by George Hedley. Despite a second half assault from the hosts, the visitors sealed the win deep in added time with a finely-executed finish from Marco Haigh.

Leatherhead had the majority of possession in the opening half, playing up the slope on a hard, bumpy and dust-strewn pitch - but to little effect.

Tanners had the ball in Hartley's net after four minutes. Kelvin Massango's cross from the left was turned in by an advancing Lucas Franzen-Jones, but was adjudged offside.

Hartley's Jack Penton was shown a yellow card after clipping Massango's heel just outside the hosts’ penalty area on 26 minutes.

Kane Fitzgerald's subsequent wide-angled free-kick was whipped in hard towards the goal, requiring a good punch from goalkeeper Nick Jupp to clear it away to safety.

The visitors took the lead nine minutes before half-time after Kareem Akinnibi won a corner on the right. Everitt floated an in-swinger towards the far post and Hedley did well to head it down.