Match Report

Leverstock Green FC were dumped out of the Premier Division Cup at the first hurdle, and displayed little of their sparkling league form on a disappointing night at the Lords Builders Merchants Stadium. Leverstock had won 4-3 away at London Lions in the league less than a week ago, but the visitors were fully deserving of their win tonight.

The Leverstock side showed several changes from Saturday’s game at Colney Heath, with some of the regulars being rested to the bench. Most of the damage in this game was done right at the start of each half. The visitors took the lead with just 52 seconds on the clock. Josh Bowler received a back pass on the left edge of his penalty area and kicked the ball clear, but it struck Lions forward Max Kyte and deflected into the path of Felix Shalom, who had the simple task of shooting into the empty net with Bowler still stranded out of his goal.

Leverstock pushed forward for an equaliser, and generally had more of the ball during the first half, but created little despite some promising build-up play. In the 25th minute a cross from Morgan Grout found George Mitchell-Gears, but his header from close range went wide. Two minutes later a pass from Danny May allowed Ademide Baruwa to get to the bye-line and pull the ball back, but Jayden Newman couldn’t force the ball home. In the last minute of the half the visitors almost scored a second goal in similar style to their first, but Daniel Creese shot wide from the edge of the box.

In the opening minute of the second half Baruwa had a chance to score from a narrow angle, but his shot was kept out by keeper Nathan Bloohn. Instead it was London Lions who scored the next goal in the 47th minute as a long kick from Bloohn found Austin Lipman to shoot home a classic route one goal.

Leverstock Green FC rarely looked like getting back into the game, and it was the visitors who looked more likely to score with a couple of shots going just wide of the target. The Green side was reduced to ten men in the 82nd minute when Ryan Carruthers was sent to the sin-bin, and in the 89th minute Lee Goldberg shot home a deserved third goal for the visitors from 25 yards out. Leverstock had a chance to net a consolation goal in stoppage time when Mitchell-Gears was brought down in the box, resulting in the award of a penalty and a red card for the Lions player. However, Ethan Mooney’s penalty was saved, and Nat Connolly’s effort from the rebound went wide, to cap off a thoroughly miserable night for the Leverstock contingent.

Leverstock Green FC (0) 0
1. Josh Bowler, 2. Mikey Havill-Tierney, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Callum Neal, 18. Ryan Carruthers, 6. Danny May, 7. George Mitchell-Gears, 8. Joe Sadler (14. Nat Connolly 79 mins), 9. Jayden Newman (12. Luke Beckwith 54 mins), 10. Ademide Baruwa (16. Dan Pett 66 mins), 11. Morgan Grout (15. Ethan Mooney 62 mins). Sub not used: 17. Dan Weeks.
London Lions FC (1) 3 (Shalom 1, Lipman 47, Goldberg 89)
1. Nathan Bloohn, 2. Jack Mordecai, 3. Benji Weinberger (16. Barr Slagter 90 mins), 4. Adam Arnold, 5. Alex Lee (15. Lee Goldberg 81 mins), 6. Micky Perkins, 7. Daniel Creese (12. Zak Jackson 67 mins), 8. Yoav Wynne (14. Leo Carmelita 67 mins), 9. Max Kyte, 10. Austin Lipman, 11. Felix Shalom (17. Oscar Wagner 81 mins).