Bishop’s Stortford 7-0 Leatherhead Match Report
Bishop’s Stortford 7-0 Leatherhead Match Report 25/9/21
Bishop’s Stortford thrashed Leatherhead 7-0 on Saturday, bouncing back from being knocked out of the FA Cup last weekend in emphatic style, with Jake Cass making his second hattrick of the season, Archie Jones netted his first of the campaign, and Ben Marlow returned from months of injury lay-off and recovery following knee surgery, and made a goalscoring return with the seventh in second-half injury time. It’s the Blues’ biggest win since an 8-0 triumph at home to Canvey Island in the FA Trophy First Round in December 2007, and the biggest Isthmian League win since a 9-1 victory over Croydon in March 1994.
Jones opened the scoring inside five minutes, Cass’ flicked header found Frankie Merrifield on the left wing, who passed to Jonny Giles, and his low cross was turned in from close range by Jones. Merrifield was denied by Myles Bowman in the Tanners goal after weaving through the defence from the right wing, before he won the ball back from Crossley Lema on the edge of the box, played it wide to Giles and met the cross with a glancing header which went just wide. A high press after the goal kick saw Jones and Anthony Church have shots saved in a frenetic few minutes where LEatherhead couldn’t clear the danger. Merrifield eventually doubled the lead for the Blues, stabbing home through Bowman’s legs after ghosting past Lema into space in the box. Jones won a free kick on the edge of the box, but GIles could only hit the wall, before Craig McGee had the first chance of any sort for the visitors, a volley attempt from 35 yards which was always rising over the crossbar. Ryan Charles dribbled down the left wing and passed to Giles in space, but his left-footed shot went wide of the target.
HT 2-0
Cass got in on the act early in the second half, heading home into the top right corner from Giles’ left-wing cross. Charles won the ball high up the pitch, waited for his chance to shoot and fired into the bottom left of the goal past an unsighted Bowman through a crowd of defenders. Another Cass header brought his second goal, the cross from the right wing on this occasion, and substitute Johnville Renee struck the bar from 15 yards on the volley, with Merrifield unable to head home the rebound. Cass completed his hattrick when he finished off a swift counter-attack, Charles through ball down the left side found the striker, he cut in and shot with his right foot into his bottom right corner. Archie Edwards’ corner was half cleared to the edge of the box, where Marlow turned his marker and drilled the ball into the bottom corner, sparking emotional celebrations with his first goal for the club after a long period on the sidelines.
FT 7-0
The Blues host Enfield Town on Tuesday, before travelling to Corinthian Casuals on Saturday.
TEAMS
Blues XI
1 Jack Giddens
3 Archie Edwards
4 Anthony Church (Sub Marlow 63’)
5 Sam Robbins
6 Ryan Henshaw (c) (Sub Wallace 10’)
7 Jonny Giles (Sub Renee 62’)
9 Jake Cass (Goal 48’ 61’ 83’)
10 Frankie Merrifield (Goal 29’) (Yellow card 38’)
12 Reiss Chandler
14 Archie Jones (Goal 5’)
18 Ryan Charles (Goal 54’)
Subs
8 Ben Marlow (Goal 90+2’)
11 Johnville Renee
17 Mark Haines
19 Jimmy Wallace
20 James Baker
Leatherhead XI
1 Myles Bowman
2 Adam Green
3 Misha Djemaili
4 Craig McGee
5 William Salmon (c) (Sub Briggs 57’)
6 Crossley Lema
7 Bayley Mummery
8 Ryan Huckle
9 Alexander Sami (Yellow card 41’)
10 Harry Laflin
11 Jack Skinner (Sub Smith 55’)
Subs
12 Andrew Briggs
13 Harry Cawdron
14 Jedd Smith (Yellow card 78’)
15 James Hardwicke
16 Campbell Scott
Attendance 333