Leatherhead's performance fell away badly in Saturday's 2-1 win at crisis club Godalming Town.

The newly-promoted side's players, who recently agreed to forego their wages because of financial problems caused by the postponement of home games, provided further damage to the Tanners' promotion hopes.

Leatherhead were the stronger side in the first half and it was no surprise when they took the lead with a typical piece of Julian Thompson opportunism.

The ball was played into the home penalty area and, with the defence unable to make the necessary clearance, the stocky striker smashed the ball home from close range.

Leatherhead should have wrapped the match up in that first half. As it was, a sucker goal on the stroke of half time put the home side back in the running and sent the Tanners back into the dressing room all square. A ball into the heart of the visiting defence was not cleared and let in Shaun Lydon who chipped Chris Gibson to level the score.

One of the strengths of this side is that they have shown greater strength in the second half and have been prepared to scrap when the game was going against them. This match was one time when that resolve left them.

The fluent and hard fighting performance left them on this occasion and they let in a Godalming side that should have been dispatched - if not with ease, then a degree of comfort. Later in the half goal scorer, Julian Thompson and midfielder were to be replaced by Marc Charles-Smith and Steve Sargent - both of who have the ablity to carve through defences - but this time it was not to be.

The winning goal had a touch of farce about it. Chris Gibson had made one save in a crowded area and clawed away another when the linesman flagged that the ball had crossed the line. Leatherhead were protesting that there had been a foul in the box but the goal was give. The unfortunate Gibson was credited with an own goal.

With just eleven minutes to go, the Tanners were unable to claw back the deficit and three precious points were lost.

Now firmly anchored in the lower half of the table,, the Tanners need to dig deep to find the formula that saw them enjoy a 19 match undefeated run and have a lucrative run in the FA Cup. Confidence plays a large part in this slippage from a healthy early season start and Dave Harlow will want to go into the New Year with more points under his belt and not be relying on those around him to be dropping results.

Leatherhead: Gibson, Gray, Carpenter, Hendry, Harper, Bennetts (Sargent), Holmes, Bolger, Greenaway, Thompson (Charles-Smith), Stevens