Match Report

Leverstock Green got off the mark with a deserved point from their second league fixture away to Barton Rovers on Saturday. As with last Saturday’s FA Cup tie they trailed for a long time but found an equaliser in the last ten minutes of the game.

Leverstock were unlucky not to take the lead in the 17th minute. Joe McCarthy got to the bye-line and pulled the ball back for George Mitchell-Gears, who hit a good shot but it came back off the inside of the post.

The home side had showed little threat early in the game, but a momentary lapse in concentration from the Leverstock defence allowed Powfil Raposo to run through on goal and slot past Ryan North to put Barton into a 24th minute lead. Leverstock went close to an equaliser in the 30th minute when Jack Allen got on the end of a corner, but his header was wide.

Barton went close to a second goal in the 51st minute as Tyrone Shiham put the ball over the bar from a close-range shooting opportunity, but it was Leverstock who had more of the pressure early in the second half, winning a series of corners and having some promising attacks, but the ball would not fall for them inside the box. Their best chance came in the 63rd minute when Allen burst clean through on goal, but his shot was kept out by the legs of keeper Matt Boylan.

North made a great save in the 72nd minute, diving at his near post to turn away a shot from Ayman Assas and keep Leverstock in the game. That proved crucial as Leverstock, having made all five substitutions, finally found the equaliser. Ashton Corder had been on the pitch since the 55th minute and had already made some impressive runs down the left, but in the 83rd minute the 16-year-old picked up the ball in the middle of the Barton half and drove forward before drilling a low shot past Boylan into the corner of the net to level the scores with his first senior goal.

It could have been an even more sensational story for Corder when he had another run at goal in the 89th minute but this time Boylan saved his shot. Barton put on some pressure over the closing minutes and could have won the game themselves, but former Leverstock striker Rawn Seale headed wide of the mark from close range in stoppage time. In the end a point apiece was the right result.

Barton Rovers (1) 1 (Raposo 24)
1. Matt Boylan, 2. Isaiah Hilaire, 3. Murphy Culkin, 4. Fabio Silvestri (15. Martel Powell 80 mins), 5. Joshua Rodrigues, 6. Michael Buckmaster, 7. Tyrone Shiham (14. Mustafa Said 80 mins), 8. Connor Bernhardt, 9. Powfil Raposo (17. Ayman Assas 71 mins), 10. George Joyce, 11. Lucas Jordan (12. Rawn Seale 55 mins). Sub not used: 16. Thomas Chernery.
Leverstock Green (0) 1 (Corder 83)
1. Ryan North, 2. Kombe Kawimbe, 3. Vladyslav Karuchok (12. Nat Connolly 70 mins), 4. Dan Pett, 20. Archie Quinlan (16. Enoch Folorunsho 81 mins), 6. Ryan Carruthers (17. Marcus Warren 68 mins), 7. Joe McCarthy (14. Ashton Corder 55 mins), 8. Carmicheal Uchenna, 9. Jack Allen (15. George Eldridge 64 mins), 10. Ademide Baruwa, 11. George Mitchell-Gears.