Leatherhead fought back from a three-goal deficit to secure an unlikely draw in this FA Trophy preliminary round tie.

Following a dispirited performance against Lewes on Tuesday, manager Mick Sullivan introduced no fewer than five new players to the Tanners squad for this match.

Adam Goodwell stepped up from the reserves to replace Dean Gunner. New signings Liam Collins, Julian Osuwu-Bekoe and Julien Thompson came in for the injured Marc Elston and the two players released this week – Gabriel Emechete and Tony Cuff – while Zak Graham awaited his debut on the subs bench. It was hardly surprising that the new-look Tanners side took a while to settle.

Thamesmead took the lead after 18 minutes. Full back Peter Smith chipped a speculative shot from 30 yards out with Leatherhead goalkeeper Craig Bradshaw standing a few feet off his line. Bradshaw must have decided that the ball was going over his crossbar as he made no attempt to stop the shot. But he completely misjudged the flight of the ball as it dipped below the crossbar and into the back of the net.

As the first half developed, the Tanners’ midfield was unable to break down the visitors’ tight-knit defence. Thamesmead always looked dangerous on the break, visibly disturbing Leatherhead’s new three-at-the-back defensive formation of Iain Hendry, Chris Boulter and Dan Dean.

Thamesmead doubled their lead at the start of the second half. A move down the middle caught the Leatherhead defence off guard. The ball found its way to an unmarked Andy Constable and the big centre forward calmly stroked his shot past Bradshaw.

A few minutes later Thamesmead scored a third goal when the Tanners defence failed to clear its lines. Dean deflected the ball into the path of Constable whose first shot was blocked by Bradshaw. The ball rebounded back to the centre forward who finished off with ease.

Tommy Hutchings replaced Julien Thompson after 55 minutes in the faint hope of injecting some extra pace into the Tanners attack.

Yet the Tanners looked in danger of sinking further behind after 72 minutes. The referee awarded a free kick to Thamesmead on the edge of Leatherhead’s six yard box after Bradshaw collected a back pass from Boulter. Leatherhead subsequently cleared the free kick and escaped any further punishment as Thamesmead sat back on their lead.

The Tanners got the first of their goals after 75 minutes with Hutchings creating space down the middle and blasting a left foot shot from thirty yards out.

In the hope of making some sort of comeback, Sullivan then made a double substitution with Osuwu-Bekoe and Josh Smith replaced by Kwabena Agyei and Zak Graham.

The move appeared to unsettle the Thamesmead defence. They immediately conceded an almost identical goal from the magical left foot of Hutchings, who struck the ball from the same distance as his first goal and into the back of the net.

With Thamesmead now firmly on the back foot defending their narrow lead, the Tanners went all out in search of an equaliser. As the game moved into injury time, Hassan Nyang had a goal-bound shot deflected wide for a corner. Hutchings played the kick towards the near post and Nyang was there to head home.

Thamesmead must now ask themselves how they failed to hold onto a three goal lead for the final 20 minutes as the two sides go back to Bayliss Avenue on Tuesday night for a replay.

Leatherhead: Craig Bradshaw, Dan Dean, Adam Goodwell, Chris Boulter, Iain Hendry, Hassan Nyang, Matt Francis, Liam Collins, Julian Osuwu-Bekoe (Kwabena Agyei), Julien Thompson (Tommy Hutchings), Josh Smith (Zak Graham).