Match Report

Leverstock Green face a Tuesday night replay at Aylesbury Vale Dynamos as the two sides could not be separated after 120 minutes of Saturday’s First Qualifying Round tie in the Buildbase FA Vase. Leverstock required a late equaliser to rescue the tie in normal time against a side that played over half the game with ten men.

It was a game of few chances, especially in the early stages of the game. The visitors were reduced to ten men in the 21st minute. Derek Feyi was yellow carded for pulling back Frankie Jowle when he looked like going clean through, and as Feyi had earlier been booked for kicking the ball away, he was also shown the red card.

However, it was the ten men that took the lead in the 25th minute, as Harry Scott got to the bye-line and pulled the ball back for Andrew Phillips to finish from close range. They were close to a second goal ten minutes later from a corner, but the ball was cleared off the line. The Leverstock side didn’t create any chances to trouble visiting keeper James Weatherill as Aylesbury took their 1-0 lead into the break.

The visitors had more chances early in the second half. Phillips shot just over the bar from the edge of the box in the 49th minute, and a minute later Scott hit a shot into the side netting.

Leverstock’s best chances came from a number of free kicks in dangerous positions around the box. On 57 minutes John Smith’s free kick was comfortably gathered by Weatherill. On 64 minutes Lewis Rodrigoe got on the end of a free kick from Tom Carter, but his header was cleared off the line. Two minutes later Ollie Cox had a go at a free kick from just outside the box but curled it just over the bar. On 78 minutes the Green side had their best effort of the game so far as substitute Jake Williamson struck a terrific volley from outside the box, but Weatherill pulled off a great save to turn it away.

As the game went into the closing minutes, it looked like the ten men were going to hang on for the win, but two minutes from time Leverstock got a rare slice of luck as a speculative effort from Ollie Cox took a big deflection off a defender which wrongfooted Weatherill and flew into the net for the equaliser.

That took the game into extra time, although the additional 30 minutes saw no increase in the number of chances created. The visitors went close to a spectacular goal in the 93rd minute as Nuredin Lilaj launched into an acrobatic overhead effort which was heading for the top corner but for a superb goalline clearance from Steve Hawes. Five minutes later Leverstock had their chance when Luis Brooker went clean through, but Weatherill came off his line to make a great save, and from the resulting corner Williamson headed just over the bar.

Neither side went close to breaking the deadlock in the second period of extra time, so the two sides will replay at Haywood Way on Tuesday night for the right to host Rugby Borough in the next round.