Match Report

Leverstock Green exited the Premier Division Cup at the second round stage as they were unable to find a way past a resolute Colney Heath defence after conceding an early soft goal in Tuesday night’s tie.

The visitors started the stronger side, and were denied a goal in the 5th minute as Austin Byfield tipped a header from Jack McShane over the bar. In the 13th minute Leverstock were caught on the break from their own free kick. Hesitation between defender and goalkeeper allowed Kemal El-Maghur to nip inbetween them and take the ball past Byfield, eluding the two defenders who had scrambled back to slot the ball into the empty net.

Leverstock came close to an equaliser in the 22nd minute as Lewis Collins made a run into the box and exchanged passes with Chris Blunden before hitting a shot that came back off the inside of the post, with nobody able to get onto the rebound. A foul on Elgeniy Daalberg in the 26th minute gave Leverstock a chance from a free kick in a central position, but Blunden’s effort was comfortable for keeper Connor Sansom. Blunden hit a better long-range effort in the 38th minute, but it flew just over the angle of post and bar.

Colney Heath went close to adding a second goal in the 56th minute with a long-range effort from Harry Shepherd that went inches over the bar, while Leverstock again had a chance for an equaliser in the 62nd minute, but a fierce shot from Rio Beach took a deflection off a defender and went just wide. At the other end Byfield produced a couple of good saves to keep Leverstock in the game, and they went agonsingly close again in the 82nd minute. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica’s cross from the bye-line was headed back across goal by George Mitchell-Gears and Blunden slid in to finish but was denied by a point-blank save from Sansom.

Leverstock pushed everything forward over the closing minutes and won a succession of corners, but the Colney Heath defence held firm, and they held out for the win which takes them into the quarter-finals. Leverstock finished the game with ten men after Scott McGleish was sin-binned during stoppage time.

Leverstock Green (0) 0
1. Austin Byfield, 2. Adrian Pitfield, 3. Rio Beach, 20. Scott McGleish, 5. Alvin Kyemereh, 6. Ryan Carruthers (15. Ethan Mooney 65 mins), 7. Lewis Collins (17. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica 68 mins), 8. Dan Pett, 9. Chris Blunden, 10. Sean Walsh (14. George Mitchell-Gears 48 mins), 11. Elgeniy Daalberg (16. Kuranaishe Musanhi 77 mins). Sub not used: 18. Bobby Armstrong.
Colney Heath (1) 1 (El-Maghur 13)
1. Connor Sansom, 2. Elias Nichols, 3. Bradley Dixon-Smith (12. Peter Mokwenye 90 mins), 4. Deandre Pascoe, 5. Yasin Boodhoo, 6. Shimron Eaton, 7. Jack McShane (15. Solomon Dawodu 84 mins), 8. Harry Shepherd, 9. Kemal El-Maghur (16. Hadley Gleeson 69 mins), 10. Lewis Smith (14. Tejon Brown 75 mins), 11. Chris Griffin. Sub not used: 17. George Sippetts.