Match Report

No teams have drawn more games in the SSML Premier Division than Cockfosters and Leverstock Green, so there was an air of predictability about tonight’s result as the sides shared the points in a 1-1 draw.

Leverstock manager Fregus Moore had a depleted squad to pick from tonight with five players from Saturday’s game either injured or unavailable in addition to the four that were already missing through injury. Top scorers Chris Blunden and Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica were both out injured, so there were debuts for two players – Cameron Ferguson, on a dual registration from Hadley, and striker John Shamalo on a dual registration from AFC Dunstable.

Leverstock made a strong start to the game, though, and took an early lead. Luke Beckwith made a run from the halfway line before laying off to Richard Ennin, who at first seemed to have missed his chance to shoot, but he got the ball back and fired it into the corner of the net for a 1-0 lead in the 4th minute.

In the 10th minute Shamalo had an effort at goal which was deflected wide, and Luke Durnin headed wide from the resulting corner. The home side had a good spell in the middle of the half, and Austin Byfield had to make two saves in the 22nd and 25th minutes to keep out shots from Ethan Rookard, who was clean through on both occasions.

Leverstock went close again in the 32nd minute when a free kick from Ennin was tipped over the bar by a superb save from home keeper Charlie Mann. Ryan Carruthers headed wide from the resulting corner. In first half stoppage time Byfield pulled off another great save to keep out a Cockfosters free kick.

Further injury problems early in the second half saw Elgeniy Daalberg replace Beckwith and Bobby Armstrong replace Durnin. Seconds after coming on Armstrong was pulled up for a foul inside the box which saw Cockfosters awarded a penalty. Matt Thompson fired the spot kick past Byfield to level the scores at 1-1 in the 58th minute.

On 65 minutes Cockfosters had a good chance when Reece Barrett turned in the box but shot wide from close range. A minute later Leverstock were attacking when Kurainashe Musanhi made a run from his own half to the edge of the box before hitting a shot that Mann did well to turn away. The play went straight back to the other end where Barrett had another good chance but put his shot over the bar. The home side were denied again in the 70th minute by a goalline clearance from Ferguson.

Cockfosters were temporarily reduced to ten men when Chris Griffin was sin-binned in the 78th minute, but Leverstock couldn’t make their numerical advantage tell during the ten minutes, with a free kick over the bar from Ibrahim Nagheeb being their best effort.

Leverstock were on top during a lengthy period of stoppage time, with the ball flashing across the face of the home goal a couple of times, but the draw always looked the most likely outcome, and so it proved at the final whistle.

It was an 11th draw of the season for Leverstock and a 10th for Cockfosters. Byfield’s series of first half saves earned him the MOM nomination.

Highlight video by Stephen Fletcher:

Cockfosters (0) 1 (Thompson 58 pen)
1. Charlie Mann, 2. Kenny Nobrega, 3. Prince Madu, 4. Matt Thompson, 5. Aiden Read, 6. Jay Lovell, 7. Antonio Michael, 8. Chris Griffin, 9. Ethan Rookard, 10. Reece Barrett (16. Joe Entwistle 78 mins), 11. Cory Ugbomah (15. Conrad Holland 90+1 mins). Subs not used: 12. Glen Draper, 14. Dennis Aker, 17. George Sippetts.
Leverstock Green (1) 1 (Ennin 4)
1. Austin Byfield, 2. Adrian Pitfield, 3. Kurainashe Musanhi, 4. Alvin Kyeremeh, 5. Luke Durnin (18. Bobby Armstrong 56 mins), 6. Ryan Carruthers, 7. Luke Beckwith (12. Elgeniy Daalberg 52 mins), 8. Cameron Ferguson, 9. John Shamalo, 10. Ibrahim Nagheeb, 11. Richard Ennin. Subs not used: 14. Raheem Khan, 15. Ayomide Oke, 20. Scott McGleish.