Match Report

In their penultimate pre-season friendly, Leverstock Green faced Hadley, who start this season in the Southern League having been promoted from the Spartan South Midlands League last season. It was a tough game for Fergus Moore’s side, but after a mostly even start to the game a sloppy end to the first half saw them 3-0 down at the break.

Leverstock put some pressure on the Hadley goal in the opening five minutes, winning a couple of corners, but early injuries saw both Ollie Cox and Robin Emanuels replaced, which unsettled the side. Hadley took the lead in the 21st minute with a scorcher of a shot from long-range that flew past keeper Josh Mollison, playing his first game for the club.

Leverstock had their best chance of the game in the 27th minute when Luke Beckwith got on the end of a corner from Ibrahim Nagheeb, but shot just over the bar. Hadley scored a second goal in the 43rd minute when they were allowed too much space on the edge of the box to hit a low shot into the corner of the net. In the final minute of the half a free kick floated into the box went over the head of a Leverstock defender and allowed Hadley to shoot a third goal in off the post, leaving a half time score of 3-0 that didn’t reflect how the half had gone.

The second half saw Hadley well on top playing down the slope, but a backs-to-the-wall effort saw the Leverstock defence only concede one further goal, when Hadley broke away from a Leverstock corner in the 66th minute. All of the squad that were present saw some action, with 19 players used during the course of the game.

Leverstock’s final friendly is on Saturday at home to Totternhoe.