Match Report

Leverstock Green suffered a heartbreaking last-gasp loss to Tring Athletic, who completed a comeback from 2-0 to win 3-2 from a corner in the sixth minute of stoppage time. It was a tremendous performance from a new-look Green side against one of the title contenders, and certainly deserved a point, but it was not to be.

Manager Mark Royal brought in four new players to the starting line-up for this game. With Shane Wood still not being ready for a full return from injury and Jude Bell unavailable, Abdul Musaia came into the back four. Fahmy Mohamed, Jay Kossifos and Gursewak Jagdev were included in an attempt to bolster the Leverstock attack, and it was evident from the start that the Green side looked more lively up front than they had in recent games.

It was Tring who had the first chances of the game, with Jack Read hitting a volley just wide in the 3rd minute, and Ashton Campbell going clean through in the 5th minute only to shoot into the side netting. Leverstock’s first near miss came in the 10th minute when Brima Johnson sent over a great cross from the left touchline which found the head of Kossifos, but Tring keeper Dave Saunders kept out the header and recovered just in time to grab the ball as Alex Witham came in for the rebound. A minute later a good build-up ended with Witham hitting a shot that Saunders parried away, but Mohamed came in to net the rebound and put Leverstock into a 1-0 lead.

For the remainder of the half it was Tring that had the vast majority of the chances, but too many of their efforts were off-target. When they did hit the target, Green keeper Frankie Atwell produced some great saves to keep them out. Atwell blocked an close-range effort from Read on 27 minutes and turned a shot from Campbell round the post four minutes later.

Leverstock still threatened on the break, with Jagdev running onto a ball over the top but being denied by Saunders on 32 minutes, and Kossifos having a shot saved after a run at goal soon after. Atwell tipped over a long-range shot from Ben Johnson on 35 minutes, and three minutes later Kieran Turner hit the post with a header as Tring continued to pile on the pressure, but still had not found the net by the time the break arrived.

Five minutes into the second half things got even better for Leverstock. Mark Smith pushed forward and laid the ball out to Mohamed, who delivered a superb cross for Kossifos to direct a header into the corner of the net for a 2-0 Green lead.

However, Tring were far from beaten, and finally broke down the stubborn Green resistance four minutes later when a corner was headed away, but only as far as Turner, who shot home the goal that put Tring back into the match.

A double substitution from Tring proved crucial as the two players who came off the bench combined to set up the equaliser on 72 minutes, with former Green player Roy Byron squaring for James Verney to score from close range.

As the game went into stoppage time the Green side did their best to hold onto what they had, keeping the ball deep in the Tring half, but Tring finally managed to get the ball away for one last attack which resulted in a corner. Over five minutes of stoppage time had been played when the corner came over and Mark Riddick headed the winning goal, with the referee eventually blowing for time almost immediately after the restart.

It was very harsh on Leverstock, who had put up a brave resistance against a strong side, but there are plenty of positives to take from this game into the next one, which is another tough game away to third-placed Hadley next Saturday.