Match Report

There was heartbreak for Leverstock Green’s under-18s as they exited the FA Youth Cup on penalties, having only been denied the win by a Wealdstone equaliser in stoppage time, and despite scoring seven penalties in the shootout.

Wealdstone dominated the early stages of the game, attacking down the slope, although the Green side looked promising on the break. They had the ball in the net in the 30th minute, but Nana Yeboah’s goal was chalked off by the offside flag. Two minutes later Wealdstone were gifted a goal as Leverstock keeper Lawrence Knowles misjudged the bounce of the ball inside his own penalty area, and was helpless as the ball went over his head to leave the visitors with a tap-in to take the lead.

The second half saw a much better display from the Leverstock side, and they deservedly levelled the scores in the 58th minute. Alfie Bigg’s long throw into the box was not cleared, and David Emiloju pounced on the loose ball to shoot home the equaliser.

Midway through the half Knowles, who appeared to be suffering a lack of confidence after his earlier error, was replaced by sub keeper Joe Pinnock. Eight minutes from time Leverstock put themselves within touching distance of a place in the next round. Yeboah’s run into the box was ended by a foul challenge, and Lewis Nicholls netted the resulting penalty to put the Green side 2-1 up.

There was almost a third goal straight afterwards when Yeboah got on the end of a cross from Bigg but couldn’t keep the ball under the bar from close range. As the game went into stoppage time Leverstock were still leading, but as a result of not taking care of the ball as much as they should have, they conceded a free kick in a dangerous position just outside their own box. Wealdstone took full advantage of the opportunity as Tecane Shrowder blasted the free kick straight into the bottom corner of the net to level scores at 2-2 in the second minute of stoppage time.

The tie then went into a penalty shoot-out, and it started well for Leverstock as Pinnock saved Wealdstone’s first kick from Rauri O’Connor. The next six penalties were all scored, with Nana Yeboah, Alfie Atkins and Ben Payne scoring for Leverstock. However, David Emiloju put Leverstock’s fourth penalty over the bar to leave the score at 3-3 after four penalties each. The next eight penalties were scored, with Alfie Bigg, Ethan Bradbury, Jaylan Hector and Dylan Jones all scoring for Leverstock to make it 7-7 after eight kicks each. Wealdstone then scored again and thought they had won when their keeper saved Leverstock’s ninth penalty from Aidan O’Connor. However, the referee ordered a retake as the keeper moved too soon. O’Connor wasn’t able to take advantage of his reprieve, though, as his second attempt hit the bar on its way over, leaving Wealdstone the winners by 8-7 on penalties.

Team: Lawrence Knowles (Joe Pinnock 71 mins), Jaylan Hector, Ethan Bradbury, Aidan O’Connor, Alfie Atkins, Frankie Bircham (Dylan Jones 71 mins), David Emiloju, Lewis Nicholls (Ben Payne 90+2 mins), Leo Broom, Alfie Bigg, Nana Yeboah. Subs not used: Wasi Naqvi, Keelan Ricketts.