Match Report

Leverstock Green gave their survival hopes a big boost as they came from behind to record a convincing 4-1 win away to Enfield, only their third win so far in the Southern League Division One Central.

The day before the game the Leverstock squad was strengthened by the loan signing of Jeffrey Sekyere from Wealdstone, and the 21 year old striker made a big impression on his debut with a goal and two assists.

Leverstock started the game strongly. In the 6th minute Jamie Breen made a mazy run into the Enfield half and exchanged passes with Kyle Connolly to go through on goal, but his shot was well saved by home keeper George Edgeworth, who also saved the follow-up effort from Rawn Seale. In the 15th minute Sekyere had his first sight of goal when a pass from Marcus Warren put him through, but Edgeworth saved again.

Enfield didn’t get going until half an hour into the game, and Ryan North had to pull off two quick saves in succession to keep the scores level. Sekyere was denied again by Edgeworth in the 36th minute, but two minutes later it was Enfield who took the lead somewhat against the run of play, as Kieran Southgate shot home in a scramble following a corner.

Just before half time a bad tackle on Breen saw him leave the game injured, replaced by Rio Beach, making a welcome return to the side after a long injury layoff.

Leverstock continued to impress in the second half, and they got their deserved equaliser in the 59th minute as a pass from Kyle Connolly put Warren through on goal to calmly slot the ball past Edgeworth. Within two minutes the turnaround was complete. Sekyere won the ball from a defender in the box and squared for Luke Beckwith, who had a defender in front of him but worked the space to get in a shot past Edgeworth and put Leverstock 2-1 up.

The game blew up in the 77th minute. Dan Pett received a yellow card for a heavy challenge on Enfield defender Luke Clark, which saw Clark eventually stretchered off, but the reaction of goalkeeper Edgeworth, who came out of his goal and threw Pett to the ground, earned him a straight red card. After a lengthy stoppage for the treatment to Clark, the game restarted with Enfield down to ten men and defender Joni Vukaj taking over in goal.

Leverstock kept their heads, continued to push forward, and eventually added further goals to cement their win. In the 86th minute Kyle Connolly got his second assist, threading a pass to Sekyere, who neatly slotted past Vukaj for the third goal. Connolly should have scored himself two minutes later when clean through, but Vukaj saved with his legs. Seale also missed a chance in stoppage time, shooting over the bar from Sekyere’s pass, but the fourth goal eventually arrived when Sekyere put Beckwith through to score his second of the game.

With Kidlington and Northwood both dropping points, the win moves Leverstock to within two points of safety, but they still have a lot of work to do, starting with a home match against playoff-chasing Hadley on Tuesday night.

Enfield (1) 1 (Southgate 38)
1. George Edgeworth, 3. Luke Clark (10. Sami Bessadi 83 mins), 5. Matthew Hurley, 20. Bradley McClenaghan (6. Callum Taylor 60 mins), 7. Joni Vukaj, 16. Freddy Moncur (8. Louie Pullen 60 mins), 9. Kieran Southgate, 11. George Thompson, 4. Jack Taylor, 19. Dimitri Christou (14. Gabriel Ipanga Mbambo 70 mins), 17. Myles John.
Leverstock Green (0) 4 (Warren 59, Beckwith 61, 90+3, Sekyere 86)
1. Ryan North, 2. Lewis Collins, 3. Jamie Breen (12. Rio Beach 45 mins), 4. Gary Connolly, 5. Josh Dooley, 6. Kyle Connolly (14. Ryan Carruthers 90 mins), 7. Luke Beckwith (17. Keanu Fleming 90+2 mins), 8. Dan Pett (18. Lucas Georgiou 90+2 mins), 9. Jeffrey Sekyere, 10. Marcus Warren (15. Nat Connolly 69 mins), 11. Rawn Seale.