Leatherhead were beaten for the first time in more than a month as they bowed out of the FA Trophy against Enfield Town.
The well supported North London side dominated the opening half and never allowed the Tanners to settle. Incessant rain made playing conditions difficult for both sides during the match.
A slip from Jon Boswell put Town centre forward Bryan Hammett through on goal after 13 minutes but his shot was well blocked by Leatherhead captain Chris Boulter.
Town went in front after 16 minutes following a break started by Adam Wallace in his own half. Wallace fed the ball through to Hammett who hit a sweeping cross into the Leatherhead box. Michael Bardle was in an ideal position at the far post to hit a sublime left foot effort into the goal.
Town could have gone further ahead three minutes later as Boswell failed to get distance on a headed clearance but Ben Hammond shot wide.
With Leatherhead’s defence looking increasingly unsettled, Town doubled their lead after 25 minutes. A rash clearance from the Tanners keeper, Chico Ramos, fell well short of Greg Andrews and the ball was quickly pumped back into the Leatherhead box. Jey Silva collected the cross and flicked the ball on to Hammatt to score from close range.
Tanners slowly fought their way back into the match with Tommy Hutchings forcing a sharp save from Blackburne after 36 minutes.
Leatherhead’s best chance in the opening half came in stoppage time as Andrews laid the ball across the penalty area to Boswell in front of goal, but the big centre half was unable to get any power on his shot and fired wide from an awkward angle.
Leatherhead replaced Gabriel Odunaike with Jack Macleod at the start of the second half but Tanners were caught out by another well worked Town break. Silva broke down the right and found Wallace to float a high ball into the box for Hammatt to head home for his second and Town’s third goal of the match after 50 minutes.
There appeared to be no way back for the Tanners but the introduction of Kev Terry for Marc Elston after 60 minutes injected some much needed extra pace into Leatherhead’s attack.
Tanners were finally rewarded with a goal after 74 minutes. Macleod, working down the right, found Terry in the six yard box who hit a sweeping shot on the turn which crept over the line at the far post.
Enfield had further chances to restore their three goal advantage in the final ten minutes but two headed efforts from their captain, Mark Kirby, went agonisingly wide of the goal.
Town were reduced to ten men for the final five minutes of normal time. A foul on Macleod led to Hammatt being dismissed after a second booking.
Deep in stoppage time Andrews hit a post from a free kick but the final result was a fair reflection of a match dominated for long periods by the visitors.
Leatherhead: Ramos, Williams, Hill, Boulter, Boswell, Thompson, Elston (Terry), Simmons, Andrews, Hutchings (Agyei), Odunaike (Macleod) Enfield Town: Blackburne, Protheroe, Bardle, Campbell (Kendall), Kirby, Jones, Hammond (Forward), Morton, Hammatt, Wallace, Siva (Valenti)
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