Match Report

Leverstock Green finally put their first league win of the season on the board at the eighth attempt, and they did it in style with an outstanding team performance and a 5-0 win over Ware, who earlier in the season had put five past Leverstock in an FA Cup tie.

The two teams went into the game as the only remaining teams in the division without a win, and it was a slow start to the game before the chances started coming. The visitors went close with a glancing header in front of goal that went wide in the 20th minute, while Ademide Baruwa had a run at goal in the 30th minute but shot straight at keeper Fred Burbidge. Three minutes later Burbidge pulled off a great save at his near post to keep out a shot from George Mitchell-Gears, and at the other end Ryan North did well to turn a flick from Josh Hutchinson over the bar.

In the 35th minute Marcus Warren’s pass gave Iker Noguera Leon a run at goal, and the Spaniard took the ball past several defenders and Burbidge before slotting home to put Leverstock into a 1-0 lead.

Two minutes before the break Ware were reduced to ten men when Max Granville was shown a straight red card, not for the tackle that brought down Ademide Baruwa but for words said afterwards.

Leverstock took their lead into the second half, and in the 55th minute a pass from Leon to Joe McCarthy should have been dealt with, but confusion between Burbidge and a defender allowed McCarthy to take the ball past both and run it into the empty net for a 2-0 lead, the first time Leverstock had scored twice in a league game this season.

North produced another good save in the 59th minute to keep out a Ware free kick, with Kombe Kawimbe blocking an effort from the rebound, producing shouts for handball from the Ware players but nothing from the referee.

There could have been a third goal in the 74th minute when McCarthy broke away from his own half before laying off to Leon, but his shot was blocked by a defender. The third goal arrived in spectacular style in the 80th minute when substitute Timi Bada received a pass from Warren and hit a superb strike from the edge of the box to notch his first goal for the club within two minutes of coming off the bench.

It got even better for Leverstock as the game ticked into stoppage time. Firstly Leon notched his second of the night, controlling the ball and squeezing in a shot at the near post after Burbidge had parried a shot from Ashton Corder, and a minute later Jack Allen added his name to the scoresheet with an emphatic finish from six yards to complete a superb 5-0 result.

Leverstock Green (1) 5 (Leon 35, 90+2, McCarthy 55, Bada 80, Allen 90+3)
1. Ryan North, 2. Callum Neal (15. Aldo Petagine 83 mins), 3. Vladyslav Karuchok, 4. George Mitchell-Gears, 5. Kombe Kawimbe, 6. Ryan Carruthers, 7. Ademide Baruwa, 8. Nat Connolly (18. Jack Allen 63 mins), 9. Joe McCarthy (12. Timi Bada 78 mins), 10. Marcus Warren (14. Ashton Corder 83 mins), 11. Iker Noguera Leon. Sub not used: 16. Dan Pett
Ware (0) 0
1. Fred Burbidge, 2. Finley Titchmarsh, 3. David Sota (12. Theophilus Ofori 64 mins), 4. Max Granville , 5. Jay Rolfe, 6. Jack Grosvenor, 7. Khale Da Costa (15. Gucci Soulya 70 mins), 9. Josh Hutchinson, 10. Rechan Esprit, 11. Samuel Mayuma, 19. Anthony Wordsworth (16. Reece Beckles-Richards H/T). Subs not used: 14. Josh Okotcha, 17. Ekow Coker.