Three meetings, three wins and an average of three goals for per game. It’s not a bad record we’ve against Whyteleafe. Our first meeting came in 1986, the time when we were en-route to the Div Two North title. It was the FA Vase 5th Round that laid on such a historic moment, though not so memorable for Whyteleafe we’d imagine. Strikes from Ian Adcroft and Ricky Marshall helped us to a convincing 4-1 win at their gaff, along with a couple of rare goals for Martin Gittings.
It was just one part of what remains our most successful run in the competition; a run that came to a disappointing end in the next round and a quarter final defeat to Southall.
After that, there was a bit of a wait for our next encounter. We’d gone up to but come back down from Division One by the time Whyteleafe were promoted from Div Two South in 1989. It took us two more years to reclaim lost ground, but the Leafe couldn’t bring that Division One know-how to bear. In our first reunion, ’twas back to Church Road as Martin Gittings (again) scored the only goal in a 1-0 win.
Back at BHW later that term, we were all but champions by the time we stuck another four goals on them; Gitts bagging a hattrick in a 4-0 win. So, that’s six goals for Gitts in a period spanning six years. Not bad, eh?
