With the Wanderers looking to follow on from an unbeaten pre-season following the triumphant 7-0 win over Bourne and 2-2 draw vs EFL side Barnet, and being a tier above Leatherhead they were clear favourites to lift the silverware, however Leatherhead did not back down – fielding what appeared to be a full-strength squad and bringing a respectable amount of away fans down the Mole.
Ex-Tanner McManus kicked the match off and within a minute we had a free kick in the Leatherhead half, however nothing came of it with Leatherhead’s Paget heading it away. The Wanderers had the larger share of possession throughout the half – especially within the first 5 minutes which saw Moore ease past 3 midfielders, a confident run from Rutherford, home debutant Vincent consistently beating his man, and a shot from Camp going just over the bar. This growing pressure ultimately resulted in the first goal of the night from Rutherford in the 9th minute from close range after Muitt craftily cut past his marker and found Wanderers’ number 10.
Only minutes later Leatherhead hit the side of the net and not long after Rutherford came close to brace with a shot just wide in the 14th minute. His search for a second ended in the 16th minute after a composed cross from Vincent, initially missing the header Rutherford then tapped it past Wheeler from extremely close range.
A fairly uneventful few minutes, including a break in play with Leatherhead defender Paget down injured, then led to 2 successive counter attacks from the tanners; one caught effortlessly by Foulkes and the other seeing a cross from Akinnibi falling into empty space. The Wanderers’ next attack ended with skipper Carter open his 25/26 account with a beautiful finesse style goal straight past Wheeler, edging us closer to silverware. Shortly after the Wanderers were ruled off-side, with the Leatherhead free-kick going straight to Foulkes, closely followed by a shot headed away by Camp.
The first half came to an end with both teams applying pressure, but this ultimately came to nothing for either side.
HALF TIME – DORKING WANDERERS FC 3-0 LEATHERHEAD FC
The second half began with neither team appearing too threatening for the first 5 minutes, other than Leatherhead forcing a diving save from Foulkes. The Wanderers confirmed their victory with a powerful shot from the 3rd home debutant of the night – Dennon Lewis – slotting perfectly into the bottom corner for his debut Wanderers goal. The second half remained unassuming, but we continued our pressure with a corner headed away and keeper Wheeler heading a shot away shortly after, with no Leatherhead pressure to match.
This was until the Tanners had a strong 10 minutes – forcing another save from Foulkes and then smashing the post and sending the follow up wide, with this pressure continuing with us failing to clear their box for a couple of minutes.
With 6 minutes to go, “Trialist B” made it 5-0 with a finish fitting perfectly into the bottom right corner – cementing the Wanderers’ victory and confirming their place as The Advertiser Trophy champions for their 3rd year running. A minute later Leatherhead’s Breckon made it 5-1 but it was too little too late for the Tanners, with no more action other than the Wanderers hitting the post in the 89th minute.
FULL –TIME – DORKING WANDERERS FC 5-1 LEATHERHEAD FC