Leatherhead 3 Ramsgate 1

An inspired second-half hat-trick from Greg Andrews saw Leatherhead extend their current winning home run to five matches.

Tanners boss Mick Sullivan kept the same side that had beaten Fleet Town in the League Cup on Thursday, with the exception of a first start for Luke Pigden, coming in for Elliott Thompson in midfield.

Leatherhead had more of the possession in the first half, but both sides had difficulty in breaking down their opponents and there wasn’t a clear scoring opportunity at either end in the opening twenty minutes.

But Leatherhead were able to create spaces down the right, with Jon Coke and Kev Terry pumping long balls into the box.

The best chance in the opening half came after 27 minutes, when a Coke delivery found Rob Hill running into the box.

The former Merstham midfielder headed goalwards but Ramsgate keeper Danny Twyman got down well to deflect the effort against his left post and away from danger.

Tanners had a golden opportunity to take the lead early in the second half.

Mark Simmons broke away from his defender and delivered the ball to an advancing Tommy Hutchings.

But Leatherhead’s top scorer was unable to get any measure of accuracy from his weaker right foot and hit his shot well wide.

It wasn’t all one-way traffic. Ramsgate pushed forward and a header from Tom Tsangarides went narrowly wide of the post.

Having unsettled the Tanners defence, Ramsgate took the lead after 53 minutes.

A throw-in from the right found Joe Taylor in space in the Tanners penalty area. Taylor out-jumped his marker to head past Leatherhead keeper Adrian Jones.

Rams had a strong appeal for a penalty turned away three minutes later when Tsangarides appeared to be brought down in the box by Dan Dean but the referee waved play on.

Leatherhead have struggled to find a dead ball specialist all season.

But they now appear to have found their man in Andrews. Tanners were awarded a free-kick 30 yards out after 62 minutes and Andrews’ well hit effort struck the woodwork.

Leatherhead scrambled an equaliser after 64 minutes. Dean worked his way into the Ramsgate area and hit a shot low to Twyman’s right.

The keeper could only parry the ball into the path of Andrews, who was left with the simple task of tapping home from five yards.

Leatherhead took the lead from another free-kick awarded 30 yards from goal, after substitute Dominic O’Shea had been bundled off the ball on 75 minutes.

This time Andrews’ powerful low strike evaded everyone to find the corner of the net.

The Tanners pushed forward in search of a third goal and this duly came after 79 minutes.

Rams defender James Gregory failed to control the ball on the edge of his area and was dispossessed by Andrews.

The young forward took the ball around the keeper before slotting home in front of goal to claim a well deserved hat-trick.

Leatherhead almost added a fourth goal late in the game when Adam Goodwell stole into the six-yard box and forced a good save from Twyman.

The Tanners will be delighted to have produced two comfortable winning performances in the space of 48 hours and now continue their busy March schedule with a trip to Whyteleafe on Tuesday.

Leatherhead: Adrian Jones, Jon Coke, Adam Goodwell, Chris Boulter, Dan Dean, Rob Hill, Kev Terry, Mark Simmons, Greg Andrews, Tommy Hutchings, Luke Pigden.