Leverstock Green's upturn in form under new manager Dene Gardner continued as they collected their second win in four days at home to Hadley on Tuesday night. This was a hard-fought game, but the Green side worked hard throughout, were well-organised, and took their chances when they arrived to claim a deserved three points.

The first half saw few chances for either side. In the 11th minute Chad Pinching's pass put Dene Gardner through on goal, but although Gardner took the ball round keeper Russell Garland, by then the angle was too tight and he could only put it into the side netting. On 36 minutes Lee Gardner got on the end of a free kick from Pinching, but his header was turned round the post by Gardner.

Leverstock were forced into a first-half change when Imad Abbasi had to leave the game with a groin strain, to be replaced by Billy Smith. In the last minute of the half Pinching had a shot blocked inside the six-yard box, and Dene Gardner had a shot turned wide by Garland.

The second half was just as closely-fought in the early stages. Billy Smith was close with a long-range effort on 50 minutes, and on 59 minutes Hadley had their best chance of the game when Shane Bambridge's ball put Ivan Machedo in behind the Green defence, but he ran on to shoot wide.

Four minutes later Leverstock made Hadley pay for that miss. Lee Gardner won the ball in midfield and broke forward before threading a pass through to Pinching, who hit the ball across goal where Shakir Agada slid in between two defenders to stab the ball home and open the scoring.

Pinching had a great chance to make it 2-0 on 71 minutes when he was clean through, but shot wide, and a minute later Hadley had another chance when Aaron Crockett exchanged passes with Jordan Watson, but Kieron Jimmy came off his line to save well.

The game was still in the balance until six minutes from time when Leverstock scored a crucial second. A great pass from Tunde Owolabi put Billy Smith through on goal, and Smith produced a superb finish, chipping the ball over Garland to notch his third goal in four games since joining the club.

The three points moved Leverstock a little further away from the bottom two, and they now face two tricky away games in which they will be trying to earn their first away points of the season, the first of them at Biggleswade United this coming Saturday.