League: FA Cup Preliminary Round

(H) Heybridge Swifts

It was another frustrating day for Leverstock Green, who turned in an excellent performance against Isthmian North side Heybridge Swifts, but couldn’t put away the chances they created. A defensive lapse in the second half allowed the visitors to net an equaliser which means that Leverstock have to make the awkward journey to the Essex coast on Tuesday night for a replay of this Emirates FA Cup Preliminary Round tie.

It started well for Leverstock, who put away the first real chance they created in the 16th minute. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica’s put Guiseppe Delgaudio clean through, and Delgaudio ran on to take the ball past keeper Callum Chafer before slotting into the empty net for a 1-0 lead.

In the 22nd minute Stefanoaica played a one-two with Callum Neal before running on to hit a shot from a narrow angle that was cleared off the line, with Leverstock having a very strong shout for a handball, but the referee waved away any protests. Heybridge offered little threat in the first half, with their best effort being a shot from Alfie Cutbush that went just over the angle of post and bar in the 32nd minute.

The second half saw Leverstock continue to play well and create chances. A pass from Neal in the 62nd minute put Stefanoaica in behind the visitors’ defence, but his eventual shot was straight at Chafer. Two minutes later an excellent cross from Stefanoaica found substitute Rawn Seale in space at the far post but Seale’s header went over the bar.

Leverstock were denied again in the 68th minute when a header from Josh Dooley was cleared off the line by Joseph Adewunmi and again four minutes later. A flick from Seale put Stefanoaica away down the right, and when Stefanoaica’s cross came over Seale was there to meet it but his shot was kept out by a great save from Chafer.

Despite the string of chances, Leverstock’s lead was still only a single goal, and in the 75th minute they were punished for a mistake at the back. Alfie Bonfield did very well to keep out a point-blank shot from Andrew Fennell, but could do nothing as Ben Allen netted the rebound for the Heybridge equaliser.

Just before the equaliser, summer signing Alie Bangura came off the bench for his Leverstock debut, and he was quickly in the action. On 81 minutes a pass from Seale put Bangura away down the left to make a dangerous run into the box, but his ball across the face of goal was just behind Lewis Collins. There was a golden opportunity to win the game in the 90th minute as Collins broke clear and set up a clear shooting chance for Dan Pett on the edge of the box, but Pett’s shot went wildly over the bar. A minute into stoppage time there was an equally clear opportunity for Heybridge to win the game as a cross found Fennell at the far post with a free header, but it went wide.

Both sides will go into the hat for Monday’s First Round Qualifying draw, and they will meet again at Scraley Road on Tuesday night.

Leverstock Green (1) 1 (Delgaudio 16)
1. Alfie Bonfield, 2. Callum Neal, 3. Jamie Breen, 4. Dan Weeks, 5. Josh Dooley, 6. Nat Connolly (14. Ryan Carruthers 83 mins), 7. Luke Beckwith (16. Lewis Collins 67 mins), 8. Dan Pett, 9. Guiseppe Delgaudio (18. Rawn Seale 59 mins), 10. Rio Beach, 11. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica (12. Alie Bangura 74 mins). Subs not used: 16. Ethan Mooney, 17. Jaden Newman, GK. Darren Bonfield.
Heybridge Swifts (0) 1 (Allen 75)
1. Callum Chafer, 2. Jamie Bennett (9. Andrew Fennell 69 mins), 19. Chris Gregan, 4. Alfie Cutbush, 5. Joseph Adewunmi, 6. Danny Nesbitt, 10. Jack Adlington-Pile, 11. Emmanuel Osei-Owusu (12. Lester Ward 63 mins), 16. Luca Albon (8. Nicholas Brown H/T), 17. Ben Allen, 18. Samuel Adetiba (15. Scott Sloots H/T). Subs not used: 13. Rohan Taheny-Clarke, 14. Lewis Browne, 20. Toby Robinson.

vs

(A) Walthamstow

Leverstock Green’s run in the Emirates FA Cup ended at the Preliminary Round stage, but they put up a very good display against Isthmian League side Walthamstow in front of an attendance of 415 at Wadham Lodge. It was two mistakes late on which cost Leverstock Green FC their chance of progressing further in the competition.

It was Leverstock Green FC who had the game’s first chance in the 6th minute as a shot from Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica brought a diving save out of home keeper Matt Nolan. Leverstock had goalkeeper Austin Byfield back in the side after his return from holiday, and Byfield confidently plucked a few crosses out of the air in the early stages. In the 15th minute Walthamstow went close when Carl Mensah got his head to a cross but with not a strong enough touch to divert it into the net.

The home side went in front in the 24th minute. Jared Small beat Mikey Havill-Tierney on the left and got to the bye-line, where he pulled back a cross for big striker Duncan Culley to shoot home the opening goal.

Leverstock Green FC kept pushing forward, and in the 34th minute there was a promising moment when Stefanoaica was running at goal with Chris Blunden shouting for a pass, but the pass never came and the chance was gone. A minute later Blunden had a golden opportunity to equalise when a chipped cross from Havill-Tierney found him all alone in front of goal with only the keeper to beat .Assuming he was offside, Blunden hit his shot straight at the keeper, however the assistant’s flag stayed down and it was a chance missed.

A minute before half time Byfield pulled off a superb save to tip a shot from George Ironton over the bar, and in stoppage time saved a shot on the run from Damaray Anyadike. Between those efforts Rio Beach had a decent attempt for Leverstock with a shot from distance that went wide.

The second half started with Leverstock very much on the front foot, and in the 54th minute they got a deserved equaliser. Luke Beckwith sent over a cross from the left touchline to the far post, where Stefanoaica headed it back across goal, finding Dan Pett to volley home the equaliser from six yards out.

Leverstock Green FC lost Stefanoaica to injury in the 67th minute, being replaced by Lewis Collins. It was Collins who had the chance to put Leverstock into the lead in the 74th minute when he was through on goal, but his shot went agonisingly wide. That proved crucial, as within seconds Walthamstow were at the other end. Nolan’s long goal kick was not dealt with by Dan Weeks, and substitute Jordan Watson nipped in to steal the ball and shoot past Byfield for a 2-1 lead.

Leverstock continued to push for an equaliser, and Collins made a great effort to get on the end of a through pass from Pett in the 86th minute, but the defender came out on top. The killer blow followed two minutes later. An attempted clearance from Byfield cannoned off the nearby Watson, and as the ball rebounded back towards goal it was a race as to which of the two would get to it first, and it was Watson who got there to slot the ball into the empty net for his second and Walthamstow’s third goal.

Leverstock continue with cup action next Saturday when they host Ampthill Town in the first qualifying round of the FA Vase.

Walthamstow (1) 3 (Culley 24, Watson 75, 88)
1. Matt Nolan, 2. Jared Small, 3. Tamas Amgbaduba (14. Jay Rolfe 58 mins), 4. Sharn Quinn (12. Jordan Watson 52 mins), 5. Carl Mensah, 6. Jardell Stirling, 7. Damaray Anyadike, 8. Kieran Turner (16. George Hellen 64 mins), 9. Duncan Culley, 10. George Ironton, 11. Callum Ibe. Subs not used: 15. Louis Mallandian, 17. Percival Winter, 20. Ashlee Jones.
Leverstock Green (0) 1 (Pett 54)
1. Austin Byfield, 2. Mikey Havill-Tierney, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Dan Weeks, 5. Danny May, 6. Ryan Carruthers, 7. Luke Beckwith, 8. Dan Pett, 9. Chris Blunden, 10. Nat Connolly, 11. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica (12. Lewis Collins 67 mins). Subs not used: 14. George Mitchell-Gears, 15. Endrit Krasniqi, 16. Daniel Lodovica, 17. Connor McGinty, 18. Brad Robinson, GK. Darren Bonfield.

vs

(H) St Panteleimon

Leverstock Green’s run of clean sheets ended, but Fergus Moore’s side showed great spirit to fight back from a 2-0 half time deficit and keep their FA Cup hopes alive with a dramatic stoppage time equaliser. The stunning strike from Rio Beach means that Leverstock will travel to Hertford to face St Panteleimon in a Preliminary Round replay on Wednesday night.

There were few chances in the early stages, with Leverstock’s best effort coming in the 14th minute with a shot from Ryan Carruthers which keeper Diego Pereira couldn’t hold onto, but Pereira recovered to grab the rebound before Chris Blunden got to it. After 384 minutes without conceding a goal, Leverstock finally let one in as the visitors swung in a 24th minute corner and Clayton Afonso had a free header to put his side into a 1-0 lead.

There could have been a second goal three minutes later as Ayub Albadri had a run at goal, but man of the match Josh Mollison came off his line to make the first of a number of crucial saves. There was a chance for an equaliser on 29 minutes when Luke Beckwith’s cross found Lewis Collins in space, but his header was saved by Pereira, who also saved again five minutes later when Alvin Kyemereh got his head to a cross from Dan Weeks.

A minute later Mollison made another great save to keep out a shot from Albadri, but on 37 minutes a foul in the box by Brad Robinson gave St Panteleimon a penalty. Dean Morgan made no mistake from the spot to put the visitors 2-0 up and in control. Two more crucial saves from Mollison in the closing minutes of the half meant that Leverstock were at least still within touching distance as the half time whistle blew.

Leverstock had some promising attacks early in the second half, but the goal that got them back in the match in the 59th minute came from a free kick on the edge of the D. Blunden hit another great strike which was too hot for Pereira to hold onto, and Beckwith followed in to head the rebound over the keeper and pull the score back to 2-1.

There could have been an equaliser in the 67th minute when a cross from Lewis Collins found Kyemereh just outside the six yard box. The defender made great contact with his shot, but it was straight at Pereira. Leverstock suffered their first injury blow in the 77th minute when Ibrahim Nagheeb had to come off with a groin injury.

Morgan had a great chance to clinch the game for the visitors in the 82nd minute, but somehow hit his shot over the bar from close range. However Leverstock’s chances of saving the game suffered a further blow in the 88th minute when George Mitchell-Gears had to be carried off the pitch, and with all three subs already used they were down to ten men.

St Panteleimon still held their slender lead going into stoppage time, but Leverstock did not give up battling. As the game went into the fourth minute of stoppage time they had the ball in the visitors’ penalty area, but no-one could work a shooting chance, until it rolled out to the edge of the area, where Rio Beach met it with the sweetest of strikes that took a deflection off a defender’s shoulder on its way into the top corner of the net.

The jubilation was deserved for a much-improved second half display, and both teams will be in the hat for Monday’s First Round Qualifying draw before the replay on Wednesday night. Leverstock will go into the game with a stretched squad, with neither Nagheeb and Mitchell-Gears standing any chance of recovering in time.

Leverstock Green (0) 2 (Beckwith 59, Beach 90+4)
1. Josh Mollison, 2. Brad Robinson (18. Luke Durnin 54 mins), 3. Rio Beach, 4. Dan Weeks, 5. Alvin Kyemereh, 6. Ryan Carruthers, 7. Lewis Collins, 8. Ibrahim Nagheeb (20. Scott McGleish 77 mins), 9. Chris Blunden, 10. George Mitchell-Gears, 11. Luke Beckwith (12. Elgeniy Daalberg 67 mins). Subs not used: 14. Kai Stonnell, 15. Sean Walsh, GK. Darren Bonfield.
St Panteleimon (2) 2 (Afonso 24, Morgan 37 pen)
1. Diego Pereira, 2. Renzo Alves, 3. Brad Gilmaney (19. Clayton Afonso 14 mins), 4. Alex Androutsos, 5. Michael Frangeskou (13. Ben Dunkwu 84 mins), 6. Joao Praes, 7. Ahmed Doukhi, 8. Jonathan Moura, 9. Dean Morgan, 10. Guilherme Monti, 11. Ayub Albadri (18. Courtney Massay 68 mins). Subs not used: 12. Lucas Totti, 16. Emerson Silva, 17. George Androutsos, 20. Marco Gerimia.

vs

(H) Burnham

Leverstock Green’s run in the FA Cup ended in disappointing fashion as they were beaten at home by Hellenic League side Burnham in Saturday’s Preliminary Round tie. A couple of injury time goals made the scoreline a little flattering for the visitors, but overall they looked the better side against a Leverstock side that didn’t create enough today.

Burnham had the first attempt on goal, with Manny Williams bringing a save out of Matt Fallon in the 13th minute, but two minutes later it was Leverstock who took the lead. Brima Johnson’s ball into the box found Ollie Cox, who finished well with a shot from a narrow angle which beat the keeper and went in off the far post.

However, the lead only lasted for three minutes, as Burnham equalised through Rashid Hamid, who was allowed too much space to turn and hit a shot from distance that flew past Fallon.

The remainder of the first half saw more fouls than scoring chances as the game became increasingly competitive and reached the break with the scores still level.

There continued to be little in the way of chances as the second half progressed, with the referee often being busy as the game threatened to boil over. Burnham had more of the ball going forward, but they had only produced one save from Fallon in the second half before taking the lead in the 72nd minute. Manny Williams got on the end of a cross from the right to head home from close range.

Leverstock forced a few corners as they pushed for an equaliser, but they were unable to force the Burnham keeper into any kind of save. They were still in the game as the match went into stoppage time, but Gavin James put the game beyond their reach as he ran unchallenged through the Green defence to shoot home the third goal in the second minute of stoppage time, and there was a virtual action replay three minutes later as James ran through again to score the fourth.

Leverstock Green (1) 1 (Cox 15)
Team: 1. Matt Fallon, 2. Brima Johnson, 3. Dan Weeks, 4. Jamie Ovington, 5. Mickey Shuttlewood, 6. Jack Stevens, 7. James Hall (15. Tom Carter 69 mins), 8. Ollie Cox (17. Elgeniy Daalberg 80 mins), 9. Sidney Gueye (16. Guiseppe Delgaudio 60 mins), 10. John Smith, 11. Adiel Mannion.
Subs not used: 12. Frank Jowle, 14. Kian Wilkes, 18. Gary Wallace, 19. Adi Connolly.

Burnham (1) 4 (Hamid 18, Williams 72, James 90+2, 90+5)
Team: 1. Carl Dennison, 2. Kian Duncan, 3. Melvy Nsomi (16. Wade Burton 53 mins), 4. Joey Gritt, 5. Ryan Tackley, 6. Dan Malloy, 7. Rashid Hamid, 8. Aaron De Rama (17. Joe Blount H/T), 9. Gavin James, 10. Luke Fanstone, 15. Manny Williams.
Subs not used: 12. James Selby, 14. Jack Petrovic, 18. Adam Bernard, 19. Kingsley Etifia, 20. Bradley Holland.

vs

(A) Harpenden Town

Leverstock Green moved emphatically into the First Round Qualifying of the Emirates FA Cup for only the second time in their history as they thrashed Harpenden Town 6-0 in Saturday’s Preliminary Round tie at Rothamsted Park. It was a magnificent performance all round by the Leverstock side, reproducing the form they showed in pre-season and finally finding their scoring boots to pull off a result that did not flatter them at all.

The game was just over a minute old when Leverstock opened the scoring. A push on Chris Blunden just outside the box resulted in a free kick which Jonathan Lacey floated towards the far post, where skipper Shane Wood came in to head past the familiar figure of Carl Tasker in the Harpenden goal.

Leverstock were attacking with real intent, and went close in the 5th minute when Lacey and Mark Smith combined to set up Reynaldo Carbon with a shot that went just wide. There was another chance in the 20th minute as Leverstock broke away from a Harpenden corner. Brima Johnson played a great ball down the middle to Chris Blunden, who shrugged off the last defender to get in a shot which Tasker turned round the post with his legs. The second goal finally arrived in the 27th minute, with a move started by Blunden, whose pass set Lacey away down the left to send over a cross which Alex Witham sidefooted home from close range.

In the 32nd minute Blunden and Johnson combined to put Carbon in with another chance, but his shot was kept out by the legs of Tasker. Four minutes later Carbon turned provider as he played a great pass to Lacey, who worked the space for a shot but hit it just wide. Leverstock were well worth a third goal, and it arrived a minute before the break. Harpenden defender Taylor Blake received the ball on the edge of his box but didn’t control it, allowing Witham to snatch the ball from him and fire home a great strike into the corner of the net to end the first half in style.

Leverstock quickly picked up where they had left off in the second half. Five minutes in, Luke Preedy played a delightful one-two with Blunden on the edge of the box before hitting a shot that Tasker tipped over the bar. In the 55th minute Carbon played in Lacey, whose square pass found Mark Smith, who hit a superb shot from 25 yards that flew into the top corner of the net for the fourth Green goal, giving Tasker no chance.

Blunden went close again on the hour with a free kick that took a deflection and went just wide. The Leverstock defence and keeper Arvydas Kacinkevicius were solid all day and barely allowed Harpenden the sniff of a chance, but on the one occasion where Kacinkevicius failed to hold onto a cross in the 63rd minute, Alex Condon was there to clear off the line.

Goal number five came in the 70th minute as Lacey hit a shot which was deflected into the path of Wood, who neatly headed the ball past Tasker for his second of the game. Lacey did not find the net in this game, but in the 87th minute he provided his fifth assist of the day as he set up Blunden to finally shoot home his first goal of the game. That one rounded off the scoring at 6-0, although substitute Lewis Davis was close to adding a seventh in stoppage time.

The result netted the Green another £2890 in prize money, and they are now in the draw for the First Round Qualifying. The tie will take place on the weekend of Saturday 8th September.

vs