Match Report

Leverstock Green and Oxhey Jets shared the points in a 1-1 draw at Pancake Lane on Tuesday night. It was a typical end-of-season affair between two mid-table clubs, and didn’t really get going until the second half.

The first half saw few chances at either end. In the 5th minute Curtis Donaldson chipped a great 50-yard pass to find Jonathan Lacey on the edge of the box, but Lacey couldn’t quite get the ball under control to get a shot away. Five minutes later at the other end, Sim Armstrong rose highest at a corner but his header was high and wide. In the 15th minute Danilson Vicente put over an excellent cross to the far post, but Shane Wood didn’t quite make proper contact with his header. Oxhey came closest to scoring in the 32nd minute when a long-range shot from Scott Pugsley hit the outside of the post.

Seven minutes into the second half a pass from Vicente put Lacey in on goal, but his shot was saved by keeper Rob Partington. Oxhey had another near miss on 56 minutes when a free kick floated into the box resulted in a goalmouth scramble in which Liam Jahn pulled off a point-blank save from Armstrong. However, from the resulting corner Armstrong came in with a powerful header to put the visitors into a 57th minute lead.

Pugsley hit the post for a second time with a shot in the 71st minute, and it had been Oxhey who had looked most likely to score for most of the half. However, Leverstock finally started playing some football, and a shot from Donaldson brought a save out of Partington not long before Leverstock created an equaliser in the 76th minute.Donaldson delivered a great cross from near the left touchline and Lacey got up to meet it with the faintest of flick headers that diverted the ball into the corner of the net.

From then on it was Leverstock who looked most likely to win the game, and they had two very good chances to do so. In the 86th minute a pass from Lacey found its way through to Vicente, who was clean through with only Partington to beat, but the keeper pulled off a great save. A minute later another dangerous cross from the left touchline found Lewis Davis six yards out but his header went over the bar.

In the end the draw was a fair result from a game in which the performance of the referee raised more talking points than much of the football on display., with neither side being happy at some of his key decisions. The points moves Leverstock back up into 11th place ahead of Crawley Green, and they have four games left to defend their top-half placing, starting with a home game against already-relegated FC Broxbourne Borough on Saturday.