It was an afternoon to forget for the Field as they fell to defeat in the opening day of the 2025/26 Isthmian League South Central Division campaign to our good friends Leatherhead.

The Tanners, admittedly, started the better of the two sides, cutting out numerous good chances with former Field man Jacob Breckon being the outlet. This came to fruition for the visitors when Breckon managed to win the ball in the air on the right edge of the box before touching it down and slipping the ball past Gallifent for the game's opener just nine minutes in.

From there on in, the game became slightly more open. The Field generating more chances but, unfortunately, finding no joy on the end of them. The Tanners, on the other hand, had less chances but with each advance, looked likely to stick it in the back of the net. Nevertheless, the first half somehow ended with just one goal separating the two sides.

The second half saw the Tanners take complete control with the second arriving just after the hour mark. A ball coming into the area found the feet of a Field defender, who stabbed at the ball to clear his lines, but it arrived only as far as Kane Fitzgerald, standing just outside the box, who let a powerful, low driven shot off, which nestled comfortably into the bottom corner to double the visitors lead.

Any chance of the Field's resurgence more or less died with that goal, taking most of the sting out of their step. That said, the introduction of Sekou Toure off the bench made some impact, as his directness and pace caused the Tanners defence some problems - however, both one on ones with Sonny Wheeler were smothered well, killing any aspect of attack.

Things went from bad to worse as Fitzgerald put a third past Gallifent on the 72nd minute, completing Leatherhead's first ever league victory over the Field (out of nine attempts) and giving the Field a brutal reality check after the highs of their 5-2 win over Rusthall in the FA Cup the previous weekend.