Match Report

Leverstock Green suffered their second cup exit in a week as Hoddesdon Town put five goals past them, all in the second half, in Tuesday night’s Challenge Trophy second round tie at Lowfield. After a good first half display from the Green side, Hoddesdon found the target with some fine long-range strikes which turned the match firmly in their favour.

Leverstock had the better of the chances in the first half. In the 10th minute a pass from Luke Preedy put Ross Adams through on goal, but a too-heavy first touch saw the ball run through to home keeper Harry Isham. Two minutes later Chris Marsh threaded a pass through to Matt Bateman, but his shot went across goal and wide. In the 15th minute Bateman was through again and took the ball round Isham, but with an empty net to slot the ball into he pulled his shot wide. Hoddesdon’s best effort of the first half was a shot from Tom Cowell which brought a good save out of Green keeper Charlie Hoskins in the 28th minute.

There was another promising moment for Leverstock in the opening minute of the second half as a cross from Adams took a deflection and forced Isham into an acrobatic save to keep it out. However, four minutes into the half, it was Hoddesdon who broke the deadlock, as the loose ball from a challenge inside the penalty area ran into the path of Harry Bushell, who met it with a rasping strike from the edge of the box that gave Hoskins no chance.

Leverstock were still in the game at this stage. Brima Johnson twice went close to an equaliser, firstly in the 51st minute shooting wide after an interchange with Bateman, and then two minutes later when another deflected cross brought another acrobatic save out of Isham. However, seconds later Hoddesdon were at the other end, and a cross from the left was met with an unchallenged glancing header inside the six-yard box from Louis Rose to double their lead.

The game was put out of Leverstock’s reach by two more long-range strikes in the 66th and 70th minutes, both from Tom Cowell. The first was a rasping drive through a crowd of players after a corner had been cleared to the edge of the box, the second a shot which took a deflection and looped over Hoskins into the net.

The one bright point of the game was the return from injury of Casey Linsell, who came on as a substitute in the second half. There might have been a consolation goal on 76 minutes when a shot from Bateman wasn’t held by Isham, but a defender came in to the clear the loose ball just ahead of Linsell. Kyle Johnson swept home a fifth goal in the 79th minute against a Green side that by now was looking dispirited, but that was the end of the scoring.