Match Report

Leverstock Green made a fantastic start to their competitive season, as fans returned to Pancake Lane for the first time in six months to see them win their FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round tie against Wembley on Tuesday night and set up a home tie against Burnham in the next round.

A lot of work has been done off the field to ensure the ground was ready to receive supporters in a Covid-safe way, and the club was rewarded with a three-figure attendance, which made for a good atmosphere.

Leverstock made a bright start to the game with both Ollie Cox and John Smith having efforts over the bar in the opening three minutes. However, a whirlwind four minute period could have seen the game go either way. In the 11th minute Wembley were awarded a penalty when Ned Jones was fouled by Mickey Shuttlewood on a run into the box. Jones took the penalty himself, but Matt Fallon pulled off a great save to keep it out, and then an even better save to keep out Jones’ effort from the rebound. The second rebound came out to Felix Laws-Cochrane, who sent a header looping just over the bar.

Two minutes later the ball was in the net at the other end as Jamie Ovington got on the end of a free kick to head home, but the Leverstock celebrations were cut short by an offside flag.

However, a minute later Leverstock were attacking again, and Smith hit a shot which cannoned off the post. The rebound flew out to Adiel Mannion, who from 20 yards out connected with a superb shot directly into the corner of the net to put the Green into a 1-0 lead.

After a breathless few minutes the game settled down again, but in the 21st minute the visitors equalised, and it was a rare mistake from Fallon, who came out of his goal to collect a ball floated in from the halfway line, but did not get there before Sharif Ibrahim, who headed into the empty net from the edge of the box.

Leverstock were not to be denied, though, and had their lead back four minutes later. Ollie Cox delivered a corner to the edge of the box where Dan Weeks met it with a powerful header that angled into the top far corner of the net.

On 38 minutes it became 3-1. James Hall made a run down the left and put over a great cross which found two Leverstock players waiting at the far post. Smith left it to Sidney Gueye, whose shot was kept out by keeper Karl Beaumont, but the rebound fell to Smith, who calmly shot home the third.

After an all-action first half, the second half was more low-key, with Leverstock continuing to look promising going forward, but without forcing any saves out of Beaumont. At the other end Wembley put on quite a bit of pressure, and it was only a couple of superb point-blank saves from Fallon that prevented them from getting back into the game.

In the end it was a well-deserved win for Matt Harding’s side, who now face Hellenic League side Burnham on Saturday 12th September with the club £1,125 richer in prize money.

Leverstock Green (3) 3 (Mannion 14, Weeks 25, Smith 38)
Team: 1. Matt Fallon, 2. Brima Johnson, 3. Dan Weeks, 4. Jamie Ovington, 5. Mickey Shuttlewood, 20. Jack Stevens, 7. James Hall (16. Kian Wilkes 77 mins), 8. Ollie Cox (14. Elgeniy Daalberg 84 mins), 9. Sidney Gueye (12. Frank Jowle 84 mins), 10. John Smith, 11. Adiel Mannion.
Subs not used: 15. Luke Peerless, 17. Guiseppe Delgaudio, 18. Gary Wallace, 19. Adi Connolly.

Wembley (1) 1 (Ibraham 21)
Team: Karl Beaumont, 2. Kamari Messiah, 3. George Harsini, 4. Wayne Walters, 5. Alfie Bates, 6. Manuchim Oke-William (15. Femi Ogunsola 70 mins), 7. Ethan Tyrer, 8. Rowan Larrington, 9. Ned Jones, 10. Felix Laws-Cochrane (17. Zaid Sabti 61 mins), 11. Sharif Ibrahim (16. Yassine Fehmi-Gil 57 mins).
Subs not used: 12. Craig Elliott Adu-Adiel, 13. Samuel Addae, 14. Ronan Hutchins, 18. Dario Zavagno.