Late winner in opening friendly

Leverstock Green came away from their opening friendly against Broadfields United with a 3-2 win.

A squad consisting of a few familiar faces and a selection of young trialists was comfortably holding a 2-0 lead until the home side fought back to level, but snatched a late winner.

Chris Blunden put Leverstock into the lead from the penalty spot in the 11th minute after George Mitchell-Gears had been brought down. Blunden made it 2-0 in the 54th minute, taking the ball round the keeper to score from a narrow angle.

With six minutes remaining Broadfields pulled a goal back, and within a minute the scores were level with a stunning long-range strike. However, in the 87th minute one of the trialists, Ryan Hennessy showed great persistence to force the ball home from close range for a 3-2 win. Hennessy was one of several trialists who impressed enough to sign forms after the game.

Some of last season’s regulars were unavailable, but Austin Byfield, Rio Beach, Dan Weeks, Brad Robinson, George Mitchell-Gears, Luke Beckwith, Ryan Carruthers and Chris Blunden all featured.