Details

Date Time League Season
Sat 15th Sep 3:00 pm FA Vase 2nd Rd Qualifying 2018/19
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Match Report

Leverstock Green continued their excellent form with another cup win and another clean sheet as they beat Raunds Town 4-0 in Saturday’s FA Vase Second Round Qualifying tie at Pancake Lane. It was a comfortable enough win and could have been by a bigger margin, but the visitors from the United Counties League Division One showed resilience and came away from the tie with a lot of credit.

Leverstock took a while to get going, winning some early corners but not really threatening the Raunds goal, and they were forced into an early change when Jonny Miller had to leave the game injured in the 21st minute, to be replaced by Alex Condon. The first near-miss came in the 23rd minute when Jonathan Lacey interchanged passes with Luke Nugent before crossing for Alex Witham, who played it sideways to set up Alex Yearwood for a shot that went into the side netting. Three minutes later Condon’s shot from a corner was blocked, and in the ensuing scramble there was a shout for a handball, but the referee did not give it.

Raunds had their first chance in the 31st minute when the ball was played through to Fernand Bass, but his shot was comfortably gathered by Arvydas Kacinkevicius. A minute later a ball from the back was flicked on by Witham into the path of Chris Blunden, who outpaced the last defender and shot home confidently from outside the box to put Leverstock into a 1-0 lead.

The visitors had another good chance in the 37th minute when they broke quickly from a Leverstock corner, but Dalitso Mandson shot wide of the target from a good position. There was a long period of stoppage time due to the treatment to Miller, and later to Condon, and in the fourth minute of stoppage time Leverstock added a second goal. Lacey’s corner to the far post was met with a looping header from Shane Wood which was palmed away by the keeper, but the loose ball was slammed home by Condon.

Two further goals early in the second half ensured that the tie was only going one way. Lacey played a ball out wide to Blunden, whose cross into the box found Luke Preedy, who laid it back for Lacey to shoot home the third goal with just over two minutes played. In the 51st minute Alex Yearwood, making his first start after a series of substitute appearances, added the fourth with a dazzling solo goal, dribbling through the defence before slotting under the oncoming keeper.

After that it seemed just a question of how many more Leverstock would score, but the Raunds side kept their heads up, and a great display from their 16 year old keeper Ciaran Wells ensured that the answer to that question was “none”. Wells parried a shot from Blunden on 57 minutes and gathered a second effort from Witham. On 63 minutes Lacey went on a solo run through the Raunds defence but his shot was turned round the post by Wells. From the resulting corner Preedy struck the bar with a shot and Witham hit an effort just wide.

Witham hit a free kick just wide on 70 minutes, and a free kick from Blunden five minutes later brought out a superb save from Wells as he dived low to turn it round the post with one hand. On 76 minutes a cross from Reynaldo Carbon went over the head of Preedy and dropped for Wood a yard in front of goal, but the ball bounced up and rebounded off Wood’s knee over the bar. Five minutes from time Wells produced another good save to keep out a shot from Blunden with his legs.

The win puts the Green into the hat for Monday’s draw for the First Round proper, which is due to be played on the weekend of October 13th. Leverstock have two further cup ties coming up this week, with a visit to Welwyn Garden City in the Herts Charity Shield being followed by Saturday’s huge FA Cup Second Round Qualifying tie at home to Dorking Wanderers.

Result

Leverstock Green(2)4Blunden 32, Condon 45+4, Lacey 48, Yearwood 51
Team: 1. Arvydas Kacinkevicius, 2. Luke Nugent, 3. Brima Johndon, 4. Shane Wood, 5. Jude Bell, 6. Jonny Miller (15. Alex Condon 21 mins), 7. Jonathan Lacey (12. Reynaldo Carbon 68 mins), 8. Luke Preedy (16. Lewis Davis 82 mins), 9. Chris Blunden, 10. Alex Witham, 11. Alex Yearwood. Sub not used: 14. Mark Smith.
Raunds Town(0)0
Team: 1. Ciaran Wells, 2. Gareth Hawkins, 3. Martin Gardner, 4. Joe Chubb, 5. Nick Marriott (14. Alex Pacey 53 mins), 6. Brad McInelly, 7. Matthew Wright (12. Ben Page 58 mins), 8. Fernand Bass, 9. Dalitso Mandson, 10. Bean Keating, 11. Callum Walter (16. Joel Smith 72 mins). Sub not used: 15. Kurt Randal.

Ground

Lords Builders Merchants Stadium
Dacorum, HP2 4NQ, United Kingdom