Away | 3 October 2026
By | Ervin Ang
10-man Villa beaten by Leatherhead in FA Cup
Ten-man Hanworth Villa were denied an FA Cup fairytale by familiar rivals Leatherhead after an 86th-minute winner by Tom Dryer secured a narrow 1-0 victory in the FA Cup Third Qualifying Round at Fetcham Grove.
Vila missed a second-half penalty and had a red card shown to Elliot Bolton in the 73rd minute which stacked the odds against Simon Haughney’s men on an afternoon where Villa dominated large periods of the match.
Haughney said: “We can be proud, yeah, but I think the teams we've beaten, I think we should beat. Today, we always knew it was going to be a close game. If I'm being honest, on reflection of the game, I didn't think it was close.
“I thought we were the better side for large parts. First five, 10 minutes, I don't think they got into our half. They were good, half decent, got into some good areas. Fair credit to Leatherhead because they stuck to it and they've got through to the end.
“So well done to them, and I wish them all the best of luck. But I can't help but think we were the better side today, but you got to put the ball in the net, and unfortunately, it wasn't our day.”
With the victory, Leatherhead will net a £5,625 payday while Villa will take home a healthy £1,875 for making it this far in the competition.
The last time Villa reached this stage of the FA Cup was in 2011, when a team comprising club legends Terry Buss, captain Ricky Farnden and Levi King forced a 2-2 draw at Slough Town before performing a giant killing 3-1 at home in the replay.
In the fourth round qualifying though, Villa, then a Combined Counties League side in Step 5, fell narrowly to AFC Totton 3-2 in a nail-biting clash.
It may have been two years since Villa beat Leatherhead, but Haughney’s side took control of the match from kick-off and barely allowed the home side a sniff of the ball in the opening five minutes.
Villa’s first opening came on the cusp of the half hour mark, when Billy Nutbeam was clattered to the ground by Bobby Price who was cautioned for his rash challenge.
Haydon Vaughan, keen to reproduce his heroics from the 6-0 win over Pagham, curled a good free-kick over the wall but straight into the palms of Sonny Wheeler.
Minutes later, Gio McGregor stung the gloves of Wheeler once more with a powerful strike from range with the ball bouncing just out of the strike zone of Michael Harding.
Harding was then handed a gilt-edged opportunity in the 37th minute after a slip by a Leatherhead defender, but despite being inside the penalty area could only put his effort into the side-netting one on one with the goalkeeper.
Right before half-time, Villa were dealt an injury blow when McGregor hobbled off the pitch after putting in a brave block to deny Nathan Hogan on the counter attack.
McGregor was replaced by Guy Ansah-Palmer after the interval, with Vaughan moving into a more advanced role.
Villa picked up where we left off, instantly generating an opportunity in the 46th minute but Billy Nutbeam’s effort went over the bar.
Six minutes later, Leatherhead finally had their first shot on target after Marcel Barrington unleashed a 25-yard piledriver straight into the palms of Eddie Brearey.
It was not until the 67th minute when the game finally kicked into life. Pouncing on a loose ball off Bolton, Harding found himself one on one against Wheeler.
With only the goalkeeper to beat, Harding wisely took a heavy touch away from goal which forced a charging Wheeler to bring him down and earn a penalty to delight the travelling Villa support.
But after picking himself up to take the spot kick, Harding’s penalty was saved by Wheeler who redeemed himself by diving to his left and parrying the ball away for a corner.
The misfortune continued for Villa in the 73rd minute, when Bolton was sent off by referee Jonathan Wilks for an off-the-ball incident reducing Villa to 10 men.
Haughney said: “He's put his hands up, so I've got no arguments with a red card. He hasn't punched him, but when you put your hands up to an opponent's face, you give the referee a decision, especially after getting a penalty.
“So yeah, I wasn't sure if it was a penalty (for us), but their goal is a clear foul. He's pushed him right out the way. Some of the decisions were a bit confusing today, but yeah, I'm struggling for words. I'm very disappointed.”
It was the slight edge Leatherhead needed to push on as Dryer put the dagger in Villa’s hearts with a well-timed volley in the 86th minute, although Villa’s shouts for a clear push on Guy Ansah-Palmer was ignored by the referee.
Haughney added: “To be fair, I don't think our pen was a pen either. So you got to level it up like that. But we got to look ourselves. I just thought we had chances today.
“It's the way we controlled the game. When you go out to a better side on the day you can accept it, so it's a little bit harder to take.
“We just got to take the pain of today, and what's been pleasing with this group is that when we have lost this season, we keep our heads up. We will lose games. It's how you bounce back and not let that one defeat be two defeats into three defeats.”
Villa will return to league action at home to Gloucester City next Saturday, October 10, with kick-off at 3pm.
