Match Report

Leverstock Green suffered their heaviest defeat of the season so far as they were comprehensively beaten by Arlesey Town in Saturday’s SSML Premier Division fixture at Pancake Lane.

Arlesey had parted company with manager Chico Ramos on Thursday, but interim manager Adam Randall put himself in the frame for the job as his side put in a superb performance, doing most of the work in the first half with three unanswered goals leaving them well in control of the game.

For the first time in this run of home games Leverstock played up the Pancake Lane slope in the first half, and Arlesey dominated the early stages of the game with the slope in their favour. They went close to scoring in the 3rd minute when a shot from Noah Costin beat Alfie Bonfield but was cleared off the line by Paplamin Jawara. However, in the 7th minute Reece Crowter, making his debut for Arlesey, hit a thunderous shot from outside the penalty area that gave Bonfield no chance and put the visitors into the lead.

Leverstock won their first corner of the game in the 11th minute, and Dan Pett’s cross found Paul Marks at the near post, but his header went wide. On 20 minutes Bonfield pulled off a good save to keep out a shot from Archie Sayer. On 27 minutes Leverstock had a free kick in a dangerous position when Rawn Seale was brought down just outside the D, but Jawara’s effort from the free kick went just wide. Two minutes later Rio Beach went close with a shot just over the angle, and soon after Leverstock were denied again as Jawara’s header from a corner was blocked on the line by the keeper’s legs.

This had been the Green side’s best spell of the game, but on 32 minutes they found themselves two goals down in unfortunate circumstances. From an Arlesey free kick near the centre circle, Bruno Brito had an effort towards goal that Bonfield should have gathered comfortably, but he couldn’t hold onto the ball and Sernad Hoxha was quick off the mark to follow in to net the rebound.

It was Arlesey’s turn to be back on top now, and a Bonfield save from a Crowter shot on 34 minutes prevented a third goal. Leverstock had a chance to pull a goal back on 42 minutes when a long pass from Ryan Carruthers put Seale in behind the defence and clean through, but Seale delayed his shot a moment too long and the chance went away. Further calamity followed a minute before the break as Crowter broke clear for Arlesey. Rio Beach chased back but was unable to stop Crowter going on to take the ball round Bonfield and slot it into the empty net, putting his side into a commanding 3-0 half time lead.

Leverstock had to push forward down the slope in the second half, but made little headway against a well-organised Arlesey defence. Early changes saw Ollie Cox and Ollie Lawford come off the bench, and both had efforts at goal but were off target. In pushing forward the Green side were liable to be caught on the break, and they were punished again in the 62nd minute as Costin broke away to score a fourth goal for Arlesey.

Leverstock finally got on the board in the 67th minute as Kian Wilkes got on the end of a Cox corner to head home and reduce the arrears to 1-4, but that did not prove to be the start of a comeback. Arlesey were well in control of the game and held onto their lead comfortably against a Green side that were looking a little dispirited by the end. It was the first time this season that Leverstock have lost a game by more than a single goal.

Leverstock Green (0) 1 (Wilkes 67)
Team: 1. Alfie Bonfield, 2. Harry Bonner, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Paplamin Jawara, 5. Paul Marks, 6. Kian Wilkes, 7. Ethan Mooney (14. Elgeniy Daalberg 76 mins), 8. Dan Pett, 9. Rawn Seale, 10. Ryan Carruthers (12. Ollie Cox 49 mins), 11. Lewis Collins (16. Ollie Lawford 57 mins). Subs not used: 17. Adrian Pitfield, 18. Fergus Moore.
Arlesey Town (3) 4 (Crowter 7, 44, Hoxha 32, Costin 62)
Team: 1. Ryan Hillard, 2. Jesus Mendoza, 3. Tom Millett, 4. Shayan Ghamarinezhad, 5. Sernad Hoxha, 6. Luke Revells, 7. Alex Taylor, 8. Bruno Brito (12. Powell Ukah 83 mins), 9. Noah Costin (15. Muhammad Zilboud 84 mins), 10. Archie Sayer, 11. Reece Crowter. Subs not used: 14. Adam Randall, 16. Ethan Tuttle, 17. Louis Chadwick.