Leatherhead made hard work for themselves in overcoming a Sittingbourne side reduced to 10 men in the first half and who had an outfield player in goal for an hour of the match.

Had it not been for some stunning saves from Billy Manners, Leatherhead would have rapped up the match well before half-time. But the game will be remembered as much for the athletic prowess of the stand in keeper as for the Tanners’ inability to convert a bucketful of chances over ninety minutes. The turning point came after 23 minutes when Sittingbourne’s regular keeper, Deren Ibrahim, was dismissed after bringing down Greg Andrews with the Leatherhead striker through on goal. The fact that it took the Tanners until the 75th minute to secure the win said as much about Sittingbourne’s remarkable stand in keeper as it did about Leatherhead’s inability to take full advantage of the sending off.

Much to the bemusement of Sittingbourne’s supporters, Andrews stepped forward and struck his 24th minute penalty well wide of the goal. Leatherhead’s embarrassment did not last long though.

Mark Simmons tested the stand in keeper with a powerful long range effort in the 26th minute. Manners spilled the shot and Jack MacLeod was well placed to bury the rebound.

Leatherhead opted for long range target practice with Dominic O’Shea and Andrews having good efforts turned away by Manners. Andrews did very well to get into the box after 31 minutes, chesting the ball down with his back to goal, before acrobatically turning and striking it against the bar from ten yards. Sittingbourne countered with a surprise equaliser after 34 minutes. A Matt Bourne corner found Nick Reeves in space to head home in front of goal.

Moments later Simmons hit a powerful shot at the Sittingbourne goal from outside the box. Manners threw his body towards the ball and made the kind of save that any regular keeper would have been proud of, flying through the air and tipping it over the bar.

Leatherhead restored their lead three minutes into the second half. The Brickies defence failed to clear a shot from MacLeod and Andrews turned the ball in from five yards.

If the Tanners thought the goal would end the hopes of a Sittingbourne revival they were mistaken. The ten men hit back after 55 minutes, as the Tanners defence failed to pick up Hicham Akhazzan at a corner and the Sittingbourne striker fired home for a second equaliser.

The Tanners replaced Kev Terry with leading goalscorer Tommy Hutchings after an hour and from here on the match slowly turned in Leatherhead’s favour.

A shot from Luke Pigden was well gathered by Manners before MacLeod attempted to lob the keeper from thirty yards, but saw his effort scrape the bar.

Leatherhead continued to bombard Sittingbourne’s goal and their efforts finally paid off after 75 minutes. MacLeod hit a probing ball from the edge of the box between the keeper and his near post, and Manners completely misjudged the flight of the ball as it made its way over the line. From that moment Sittingbourne never looked like getting back into the match.

The Tanners made the score line look a little more respectable with a fourth goal in stoppage time. Hutchings hit a well struck free kick from the corner of the penalty area; Manners failed to hold it and substitute Steve Barilli tapped the ball in from five yards.

It was an untidy win, but a win nevertheless for a tired Leatherhead side playing their eighth game in a punishing seventeen day period. The three points takes Leatherhead above Sittingbourne in the league table and builds on their quest for a play off spot. Leatherhead: Colin Harris, Jon Coke, Rob Hill, Chris Boulter, Iain Hendry, Luke Pigden, Kev Terry (Tommy Hutchings), Mark Simmons, Greg Andrews (Matt Francis), Dominic O’Shea (Steve Barilli), Jack Macleod