Match Report

It was a very inexperienced Leverstock Green side that took the field against 4th placed Biggleswade United, and the outcome was predictably one-sided, although three of the visitors’ goals came from unstoppable strikes as against only two from defensive mistakes.

With goalkeeper Ryan Schmid being recalled by Kings Langley for one game, plus all three central defenders on loan from AFC Dunstable being unavailable, and with both Mark Smith and Luke Preedy being suspended after their red cards last week, Matt Harding was missing the spine of the team that had played so well against Biggleswade F.C. in midweek. Apart from skipper Seldyn Grant, all the players in the squad were 20 years old or younger.

Having said that, the Green side came very close to going in front inside thirty seconds. Attacking straight from the kick-off, Luke Nugent played the ball out to Wesley Iroegbu, and when Iroegbu’s cross to the near post wasn’t cleared, Nugent came in with a shot which was cleared off the line by defender Joe Gauge. There was another good chance in the 12th minute when Jamie Fulton played a through ball to Lejhai Henriques, who attempted a lob over the keeper, but it was blocked.

The makeshift Green defence, lacking any specialist centre-backs, had done well against the visitors’ attacks initially, but in the 14th minute Joe Hankins hit a superb shot from outside the box which gave debutant keeper George Waters no chance as it flew into the net to open the scoring. There was another impressive strike in the 22nd minute from former Leverstock striker David Parkinson, who turned inside the box and drilled home a shot from a narrow angle in at the near post for their second goal.

A goal-line clearance from Toby Syme prevented a third goal in the 30th minute, and Hankins was close to his second five minutes later with a shot that went just over the bar. However, just as they had started the half well, the Leverstock side ended the half well, and came close to pulling a goal back in the 43rd minute when an excellent dipping shot from Iroegbu was tipped over the bar by keeper Ollie Leslie.

The visitors continued their dominance in the second half, but despite early chances, it look them until the 62nd minute to add the third goal, when Hankins was put through, and although his shot from a narrow angle hit the post, Jaiden Irish got to the rebound first to put the ball into the net. The fourth goal arrived within two minutes, though, and this one was something of a soft goal as the Green defence fluffed at least two chances to clear the ball from their own box before Taylor Rhiney had a simple finish to slot home.

Two goals in such quick succession could have opened the floodgates, and on 69 minutes it should have been five when Seldyn Grant was adjudged to have brought down an opponent in the box, but Kane Farrell hit the bar with his penalty. The fifth goal did arrive five minutes later when Rhiney hit a tremendous long-distance strike that gave Waters absolutely no chance, but that turned out to be the extent of the scoring.

The Leverstock side is in the midst of a tough run of games, with next Saturday bringing a trip to Biggleswade F.C.