Having knocked out fellow Ryman South side and playoff contenders Godalming in the previous round, the Tanners repeated the trick at fourth-placed Fleet on Thursday night as they swept into the semi-finals of the Championship Manager League Cup with a comprehensive victory.

With the games now coming thick and fast, Mick Sullivan used to the opportunity to give a debut to goalkeeper Adrian Jones, who more recently has been on loan at Molesey.

After also giving starts to Dan Dean and Kev Terry who were both making a welcome return from injury, the Tanners' boss will be more than satisfied by the commanding nature of the score line, and that all his players came through without mishap.

Leatherhead started strongly and were a goal up after only four minutes when Tommy Hutchings picked the ball out just inside the Fleet half, and ran at a retreating defence before crashing home a trademark 25 yard special which swerved past the home keeper into the top corner of the net.

This early set back did little to faze Fleet, who were also resting players having been in action on Tuesday night; and they gradually took a stranglehold on the game, making clever use of their notorious sloping pitch.

However the Tanners rearguard dug in and defended the aerial barrage doggedly with keeper Jones making some important punches, and helping restrict the Fleet attack to shots from distance, none of which hit the target.

Leatherhead were struggling to make much of an impact, although on 30 minutes Chris Boulter stole in behind a static defence at a corner but with the keeper out of position was unable to direct his header on target and the ball ballooned high over the bar.

Half time came with the Tanners still holding their slender lead, but Mick Sullivan clearly sensed that more was needed and when they returned after the break they looked a different team as they took the game to Fleet with the midfield trio of Marc Simmons, Rob Hill and Elliot Thompson wrestling control from the home team in the middle of the pitch.

It was little surprise then when the Tanners doubled their lead in the 55 minute, with a goal that would grace any game, and certainly eclipsed much of what had preceded this particular one.

There seemed little danger when Hutchings picked up the ball deep in his own half, but his quick pass found Greg Andrews bursting into space in the inside left channel, and suddenly the Fleet defence were in retreat with Green shirts piling forward.

Andrews cut inside, ignored the decoy run of Hutchings and chipped an exquisite ball over the defence into the right hand side of the penalty area where Kev Terry was arriving at full pelt, and without checking his momentum, he flashed home an instinctive volley that left the Fleet keeper clutching desperately at the empty cold night air.

Fleet were now a beaten team, and in the 74th minute they forgot their lesson of the first half, once again leaving Boulter unmarked at another deep corner, and this time paid the price as he leapt high and headed the ball firmly downward and inside the far post to secure the win.

Leatherhead Jones, Coke, Dean (Corbett), Boulter, Goodwell, Thompson, Hill, Simmons, Terry (Barilli), Andrews, Hutchings (O Shea).