Match Report

A late header from Adiel Mannion brought Leverstock Green another three points as they came from behind to beat North Greenford United 2-1 on a very wet and sticky Pancake Lane pitch in Saturday’s SSML Premier Division game.

The pitch was already soft after a game on it on Thursday, and further rain during the morning and during most of the game itself made for a very difficult surface for both teams.

Leverstock were missing Chris Gosling and Cass Grant, who were both starting two-game suspensions after their red cards last week, plus Alex Ward through illness and Jack Stevens, who was added to the injury list last week. Worse was to follow during the pre-game warm-up when keeper Matt Fallon had to pull out through injury. With no other keeper available, top scorer Frankie Jowle took over the gloves and gave an excellent display between the sticks.

The visitors are bottom of the league without a win so far, but they battled well throughout the game. After a chance for Leverstock in the opening minute when Mannion shot over the bar, it was North Greenford who had the better of the game for a while. Jowle had to pull off a save from a free kick in the 4th minute, and they had a few efforts at goal which were off-target.

Leverstock went close in the 15th minute when Jamie Ovington played a long ball forward which visiting keeper Sam House could only punch away. The ball went as far as John Smith, who shot over the bar as House was scrambling back towards his goal. North Greenford were still looking dangerous when coming forward, and it certainly wasn’t against the run of play when they took the lead in the 23rd minute. Conor Molyneaux found space in the Green box and eventually drilled the ball past Jowle from a narrow angle for an impressive finish.

Leverstock stepped up their efforts, with Kai Stonnell curling a shot just wide on 28 minutes. Two minutes later a pass from Zak Howells gave Louie Griffiths a run at goal. Griffiths put over a cross which found Mannion at the far post, but he couldn’t divert his header on target. However, in the 31st minute Stonnell launched a long throw into the Greenford box which was not cleared, and in the ensuing scramble Griffiths hit an effort which went in off the underside of the bar for the equaliser.

The Green side should have gone in front in the 35th minute. Mannion’s pass put Griffiths through to put a ball across the face of goal that somehow eluded Conor Blake at the far post. Seconds later a shot from Mannion was deflected over the bar by a defender’s boot.

The rain continued to make the pitch even stickier in the second half. There was an early chance in the 48th minute when a pass from Howells found Griffiths, who turned and shot across the face of goal and just wide. Dogged defending by the visitors prevented much in the way of clear chances for most of the half. The best chance came in the 76th minute when Leverstock were awarded a free kick in a dangerous position just outside the box, but John Smith’s effort went over the bar.

There were a couple of late goalmouth scrambles in which Greenford somehow kept the ball out, but it looked as though Leverstock were going to have to settle for the draw against stubborn opponents. However, in the 88th minute Howells delivered a superb angled cross into the box from midway into the visitors’ half, and Mannion got on the end of it to nod the ball past House into the corner of the net for a dramatic late winner.

It was tough on North Greenford, whose battling display would have deserved a point, but Leverstock overcame their own adversity with a top performance from everyone, especially Jowle in goal.