Match Report

Local rivals Leverstock Green and Berkhamsted shared a 2-2 draw for the second time this season in Tuesday night’s SSML Premier Division game at Pancake Lane. It was the proverbial “game of two halves”, with Berkhamsted having the better of the first half and Leverstock the better of the second, and it was a fair result in the end.

Berko came straight out of the blocks, attacking down the slope from the kick-off. In the second minute a pass from James Baldry allowed Alex Campana to run through the middle of the Green defence, although two defenders caught up with Campana and forced him to lay off to Ashton Campbell, who shot well over the bar. There were a couple more shots over the bar from Berko before they finally took the lead in the 10th minute. Ashley Lewis laid the ball off in the box for Steve Hawes, who placed his shot out of the reach of Mark Berg, going in off the post.

Leverstock barely got an attack going until the 22nd minute when a pass from Jonathan Lacey gave Curtis Donaldson a run at goal. Donaldson couldn’t get a shot away, and neither could Danilson Vicente or Tremayne Charles as the ball was passed around on the edge of the box. A minute later Berko were attacking again, and a challenge from Lewis Bowers brought down Ashley Lewis, resulting in Leverstock facing a penalty against them for the fifth successive game. Unlike the previous four, though, this one went in as Tom Carter netted the spot kick to put Berko into a 2-0 lead.

In the 26th minute Berg pulled off a good save to keep out a shot from Jack Stevens. Two minutes later at the other end Berko keeper Carl Tasker rather awkwardly saved a free kick from Charles, deflecting the ball wide. Berg kept Leverstock in the game again in the 30th minute as he saved a shot from Matt Bateman with his boot.

Leverstock needed a break to get back into the game, and they got it in the 32nd minute with a somewhat fortuitous penalty decision in their favour. Tasker was adjudged to have fouled Lacey as he chased a ball from Donaldson into the box. Danilson Vicente’s spot kick had the Leverstock supporters’ hearts in their mouths as it slammed against the post but rebounded across goal and just hit the net inside the other post.

Leverstock were forced into a change at half time, with Bowers having to leave the game with an eye injury after a knock to the head. Lewis Davis came on to play in midfield with George Biggadike dropping into the back four. The Green side now had the slope in their favour and enjoyed as much possession as the Berko side had in the first half.

In the 56th minute a pass from Charles allowed Vicente to get clear of the Berko defence, but a defender recovered quickly to get in a block just as he was about to shoot. Two minutes later Casey Linsell’s pass from his own half gave Lacey a run at goal, but his shot was deflected wide. On 62 minutes a pass from Ross Adams found Davis with a chance, but he shot straight at Tasker. At the other end on 66 minutes Linsell had to clear a dangerous ball from his own six-yard box, while a minute later Adams had a good attempt from distance which went just wide.

The deserved equaliser finally arrived in the 73rd minute, created by Tremayne Charles, who picked up the ball on the halfway line and went on a dazzling run, leaving several defenders in his wake as he surged into the box and squared across goal for Adams to finish from close range.

Either side could have won the game from there, although it was Berko who had the better chances in the closing minutes. Berg pulled off another good save to keep out a shot from Campana on 84 minutes, and Bateman headed just over the bar from a Carter cross on 87 minutes.

The result means that the two sides remain locked together level on points in mid-table, losing ground on in-form 9th placed Crawley Green and allowing 12th placed Sun Sports to join them on 37 points after a Tuesday night win.

Leverstock’s next game is at home to Edgware Town on Saturday.