Advent Calendar 2015: Day 20: Leyton Pennant 6-4 Chertsey Town

Chertsey Town are one of the sides Pennant seemed to play a lot “in the old days”. Between 1997 and 2002, the two sides met ten times, with Pennant only losing once (three wins and six draws).

At the end of the 2001-2 season, Chertsey would move to the Southern division of the newly-formed Isthmian Division 1 North & South. They finished rock bottom, and have been playing step 5 football ever since.

When the two sides met in August 2001, Pennant were still looking for their first win of the season, having drawn 1-1 with Lewes and lost 2-0 to Tilbury.

The Guardian report reads: “If ever there was a typical game of two halves then Leyton Pennant’s 6-4 win over Chertsey was it.

A first half dominated by an impressive Lilywhites attacking display which saw them winning 4-1 at half time was followed by a spirited second-half comeback from Chertsey.

Carl Brown gave the home side just the right start when, after only two minutes, he latched on to a Billy Cove free kick to score.

Cove marked an impressive return by scoring the second goal on nine minutes when he rose above the Chertsey defence to head home.

Richards got his third at the start of the second half, this time beating the Chertsey offside trap then going around the keeper to score.

However, they dug deep into their reserves of strength and the day ended well when Jamie Richards got his fourth goal on the 92 minutes.

Pennant would lose only one in their next ten, eventually finishing sixth in the table, while Chertsey ended up 17th, shipping 112 goals in 42 games.

Editor’s note: We were unable to access the admin section of the website since before Christmas, hence the delay in these articles being posted! Think of them as a late Christmas present.