Match Report

Leverstock Green’s poor home form continued as they went down to a disappointing defeat to Aylesbury Vale Dynamos in Saturday’s SSML Premier Division game. Fergus Moore’s side have not won a home league game since October and have only picked up one point at home in that time.

The Leverstock side was unchanged from that which performed so impressively at Harpenden last week, and at times they produced football approaching that display, but were unable to convert their chances and were beaten by a goal in each half.

The opening stages of the game saw little of note from either side. In the 15th minute there was a glimmer of a chance for Leverstock when a pass from Ollie Cox gave Rawn Seale a chance to run at goal, but his shot was blocked by a defender. The Green side won their first corner in the 18th minute, and Kian Wilkes got on the end of Cox’s cross but headed wide. There was another spell of goalmouth action in the 24th minute as Elgeniy Daalberg had a shot parried away by keeper Dan McAteer. As the ball was recycled, a pass from Wilkes put Rio Beach through on goal but his shot was wide.

Daalberg was involved again in the 31st minute as he ran onto a pass from Paul Marks and got past several defenders on a run into the box, but his eventual shot from a narrow angle was saved by McAteer. Five minutes later Brad Robinson sent over a low cross which McAteer missed, but no-one was there to convert as the ball flew across the face of the empty net.

Leverstock had been well on top, but in the 41st minute they found themselves behind against the run of play. An Aylesbury free kick was flicked on, and Brian Haule finished with a well-struck shot into the corner of the net. The visitors almost added a second on the stroke of half time as Jake Baldwin headed just wide.

As the second half progressed it looked more likely that Aylesbury would extend their lead. A great save from Alfie Bonfield on 53 minutes prevented Haule from scoring when clean through, however three minutes later a cross from the right found Baldwin all alone in front of goal to shoot home the second goal.

Just after the hour Leverstock made a change as Ollie Lawford came off the bench, and within a minute a flick from Lawford put Seale through on goal, but Seale was unlucky as his rasping shot rattled the post. On 70 minutes Leverstock went close again as a corner from Dan Pett was almost forced over the line.

The remainder of the game was disjointed due to both the time-wasting tactics of the visitors, and some strange decisions by the referee leading to some unneccessary exchanges between players. Leverstock kept pushing, and had several efforts at goal, including ambitious overhead efforts from both Daalberg and Lawford, but nothing that seriously threatened McAteer’s goal.

Leverstock Green (0) 0
Team: 1. Alfie Bonfield, 2. Brad Robinson, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Dan Weeks, 5. Paul Marks, 6. Kian Wilkes, 7. Elgeniy Daalberg, 8. Dan Pett, 9. Rawn Seale, 10. Paplamin Jawara (16. Ollie Lawford 61 mins), 11. Ollie Cox (17. Scott McGleish 66 mins). Subs not used: 12. Jack Allen, 14. Ryan Carruthers, 18. Kyle Williams.
Aylesbury Vale Dynamos (1) 2 (Haule 41, Baldwin 56)
Team: 1. Dan McAteer, 2. Alex Mitchell, 3. Will Mullarkey, 4. Alfi Touceda, 5. Terry Griffiths, 6. Jack Hodgins, 7. Callum Shortt, 8. Dave Brown, 9. Brian Haule, 10. Chris Stapleton (16. Marley Hamilton 81 mins), 11. Jake Baldwin (12. Montel Brown 87 mins). Subs not used: 14. Gabby Adelowo, 15. Luke Nugent, 17. Roy Byron.