Match Report

Leverstock Green progressed into the semi-finals of the St Mary’s Cup, but the win was overshadowed by a serious injury which saw player/assistant manager Scott McGleish stretchered off the pitch ten minutes from the end of the game. McGleish went down awkwardly under challenge from an attacker as the two of them were chasing the ball and was clearly in some pain as he left the pitch on a stretcher.

It had been a good performance from the Green side who got comfortably past the challenge of Chipperfield Corinthians. There was a chance in the 6th minute when Richard Ennin played a pass into John Shamalo, but his shot was deflected wide. Ennin had the ball in the net in the 9th minute but the offside flag was up.

In the 28th minute a free kick from Chris Blunden caused some problems for the visiting keeper. Three minutes later Blunden floated a free kick to the far post where Ennin was all alone but screwed his shot wide of the post. Finally in the 40th minute Leverstock took a deserved lead. The goal was set up by Shamalo, who made a run from the halfway line to the edge of the area before laying off to Ennin, who stroked a neat finish under the keeper to open the scoring.

The lead was doubled four minutes into the second half, as Ennin returned the favour by curling over a cross from the left touchline and Shamalo nipped in ahead of a defender to stab the ball home.

The third goal came in the 56th minute. Shamalo’s header from a corner was cleared off the line, but the rebound fell to Ryan Carruthers, who smashed home a shot from six yards out.

At the other end two minutes later Austin Byfield was forced into his first save of the night to keep out a shot from former Green player Louie Griffiths. On 66 minutes Kurainashe Musanhi maintained the clean sheet by clearing off the line from a Chipperfield corner.

There could have been further goals but Blunden was unlucky in hitting the woodwork twice. On 72 minutes he burst clean through and hit his shot over the keeper, but it hit the bar and bounced down on the wrong side of the line. In the 90th minute Blunden’s shot from just outside the box hit the inside of the post. The rebound came out to Adrian Pitfield, who had an open goal but hit his shot over the bar.

Leverstock finished the game with ten men, as the last remaining sub Luke Beckwith was not fit enough to come on and replace McGleish. The final whistle confirmed the Green’s progress into the semi-finals, where they will face Harpenden Town or Amersham Town, but all thoughts were with McGleish.

Highlight video by Stephen Fletcher:

Leverstock Green (1) 3 (Ennin 40, Shamalo 49, Carruthers 56)
1. Austin Byfield, 2. Adrian Pitfield, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Tom Smith, 18. Bobby Armstrong (20. Scott McGleish 68 mins), 6. Ryan Carruthers, 7. Richard Ennin (14. Callum Moore 77 mins), 8. Dan Pett (16. Dan Weeks 77 mins), 9. Chris Blunden, 10. John Shamalo, 11. Ayomide Oke (15. Kurainashe Musanhi 54 mins). Sub not used: 12. Luke Beckwith.
Chipperfield Corinthians (0) 0
1. Ben Manley, 2. Matt Chapman, 3. Tom Gibson, 4. Dan Lewis, 15. Liam James, 6. Sam Hutchings, 7. Louie Griffiths (12. Aidan Lesslie 59 mins), 8. Mark Hansard, 9. Clem Asante (14. Dan Woosley 59 mins), 10. Chris Colman (17. Ryan Woosley 59 mins), 11. Harry Slade (5. Gary Wallace 75 mins). Sub not used: 16. Bladen Trigg.