The Leopards travelled to the island to face old friends Sheppey United (formerly Sheerness East) for the first time.

The visitors were without Josh & Joseph, so Jack again stepped into the back 3.

The Leopards started strongly and soon went ahead as Phillip, flicked a ball in behind for Paul to chase. He got on the end of it and side footed an excellent finish inside the far post.

The visitors were edging the early exchanges but the back 3 of Jack, Peter & Brick were having to defend stoutly. Tommy was called into action, making an excellent save to his right from a powerful effort.

The Leopards continued to press forward but were lacking the quality with the final ball. Until Luke did well to hold the ball up in the box and set for David whose effort was blocked.

Phillip then went close, dancing through a couple of challenges leaving him with just the keeper to beat, but the keeper pulled off an excellent save.

Into the Second Half, and Sheppey had changed their keeper and only had 10 players. But despite their numerical advantage, the Leopards were moving the ball too slow.

The 10 minutes into the half, the dynamic changed completely as Benni nodded the ball into David’s path in on goal. The chasing defender hauled him to the ground on the edge of the box, earning a straight red card taking them down to 9 men. David picked himself up and from the resulting free kick picked his spot and caressed an effort into the far corner.

The Leopards soon extended their advantage as Peter picked up the ball on the edge of his own box, burst between 2 players into midfield then drove through midfield before rifling a low shot into the far corner from the edge of the box.

The visitors were now moving the ball with purpose and Ben & Connor in midfield were keeping the ball moving.

They added a fourth as Joe cut in from the left and found Benni on the edge of the box, he waltzed his way past 3 defenders before flicking the ball into the top corner from close range. Following the goal, the Sheppey decided he’d had enough and they were down to 8.

But the 8 men salvaged a goal, after Peter was dispossessed in his own box, he was then adjudged to have fouled the forward. The subsequent penalty was well dispatched into the top left hand corner.

The Leopards responded immediately as Phillip found Paul in acres of space, he advanced on goal and slotted past the keeper.

And they completed the scoring as Zach picked up on a loose goal kick, advanced forward and slotted past the keeper once more.

Parents Player: Tommy;
Coaches Player: Connor.

Coaches Thoughts
Overall a professional performance from the boys. It took us time to get in our rhythm but once we did, we scored the goals we deserved.