BULLARD BAULKED BY LATE LEVELLER
JIMMY BULLARD’S day was going so well. Then Needham Market grabbed a late equaliser to crush the former Premier League star’s hopes of a happy home debut as Leatherhead manager.
It was nonetheless a fine result for the struggling Tanners who mkore than matched the Marketmen, who started the match in fourth place.
Both teams started brightly but Bullard’s men were in control in terms of possession and chances early on.
The Tanners’ number nine Tomi Adeloye was an early threat and the Needham Market goalkeeper Daniel Gay pulled off one fine early save as the crosses rained in.
It was little surprise, therefore, that Leatherhead made the breakthrough in the 18th minute when Evan Lopes was fouled in the Needham box and Guiseppe Sole put the resultant penalty away with ease.
At the age of 37, boss Bullard resisted the temptation to even name himself as a substitute.
Instead, he was up and down off the bench like a jack-in-thebox, trying to get instructions across to his players as Needham began to threaten more and more as the half-time interval approached.
The visitors spurned their best first-half chance when Joe Whight struck a free-kick from the edge of the box straight into the wall.
In the second half, both teams were guilty of losing possession, although Needham were starting to show glimpses of why they are currently flying so high in the table.
Leatherhead were unwisely trying to hang on to their lead and were only doing so with many last ditch clearances.
It was looking pretty ominous for the Tanners and on 77 minutes, these omens came to pass with the goal coming off the bench from experienced and prolific striker John Sands.
The match had not been much of a spectacle despite Bullard’s attention-grabbing presence on the sidelines.
But Needham Market could have won it on 85 minutes.
Their swift counter-attack set up Michael Brothers but he headed wide.
And with the game going into stoppage time, Brothers had another opportunity from a freekick but put his effort wide once again.
So it was a second 1-1 draw in two games for Bullard.
Still, as one fan tweeted: “The Jimmy Bullard train is in full motion.”