Season: 2025/26

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(A) Buntingford Town

The reserves ended a run of nine straight league defeats as they came back from Buntingford with a point, but it should have been all three as a number of one-on-one chances were missed in a game that saw the return to the club of Callum Moore.

Harry Maloret
Callum Moore 🔻
Ellis Simmons
Archie Baker 🔻
Ollie Grieves 🔻
Freddie Newing
Luca Crofts 🔻
Jack Evans
George Eldridge 🔻
Jamal Yates
Aldo Petagine
Riley Porter 🟢 (for Baker)
Lorenzo Fejzullau 🟢 (for Grieves)
Oscar Roe 🟢 (for Moore)
Curtis Gangarahwe 🟢 (for Crofts)
Sankou Jabbi 🟢 (for Eldridge)

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(H) Welwyn Garden City

Leverstock Green opened up a three-point gap between themselves and the relegation zone with a crucial 2-1 win over Welwyn Garden City in Tuesday night’s Southern League Division One Central fixture. It was another nervous finish for the Leverstock faithful as the visitors pulled a goal back late in the game, but this time there was to be no last-gasp equaliser.

Leverstock could have opened the scoring in the 12th minute when a pass from Jeffrey Sekyere put Joe McCarthy through on goal, but Welwyn keeper Lamar Johnson came off his line to save with his legs. They only had to wait another minute for their goal, though. George Mitchell-Gears’ crossfield pass found Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica with space to run at goal, and Stefanoaica drilled a shot home from the edge of the box into the corner of the net for his first goal of the season.

Welwyn though they had equalised five minutes later with a header from a corner, but the referee disallowed it for a foul on Leverstock keeper Ashton Broome-Alexander. In the 22nd minute Broome-Alexander saved well from a Remel Larwood shot, and in the 33rd minute Broome-Alexander batted the ball away after a long throw had been flicked on across goal. A minute later Leverstock doubled their lead. Carmicheal Uchenna went on a run into the Welwyn half and played a one-two with Stefanoaica before hitting a shot from the edge of the box towards the bottom corner of the net. It wasn’t the hardest shot but Johnson couldn’t get to it and the ball went in off the post as Uchenna scored his first goal for the club.

There should have been a third goal in first half stoppage time. McCarthy was through again, Johnson saved again and the rebound fell for Stefanoaica, but he didn’t get his shot away quickly enough and the chance went away.

The second half saw Leverstock defending the slope and coming under heavy pressure from the visitors, but they were not able to create much in the way of clear-cut chances. Leverstock occasionally threatened on the break, and came closest to scoring in the 59th minute when Stefanoaica went on another run, kept the ball after a challenge and squared it across goal, but it was just behind the incoming McCarthy.

Leverstock were still holding onto their two-goal lead towards the end of the game, but in the 86th minute a free kick was given away in a dangerous position. The ball was delivered into the box and Evaristo Mendes applied the finishing touch to pull a goal back. Leverstock supporters then had to face the prospect of five minutes of stoppage time during which Welwyn continued to pump the ball forward, but this time the Green side were able to see the game out and claim the three points from an excellent and very hard-working performance.

Leverstock Green (2) 2 (Stefanoaica 13, Uchenna 34)
1. Ashton Broome-Alexander, 2. Kombe Kawimbe, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Dan Pett, 5. Olusegun Adedipe, 6. Carmicheal Uchenna (12. Dan Casey 87 mins), 7. Joe Mccarthy (16. Jamal Yates 79 mins), 8. George Mitchell-Gears (15. Aldo Petagine 79 mins), 9. Jeffrey Sekyere, 10. Marcus Warren, 11. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica (18. Jack Allen 64 mins). Sub not used: 14. George Eldridge.
Welwyn Garden City (0) 1 (Mendes 86)
1. Lamar Johnson, 2. Adam Pollock, 3. Layne Eadie, 4. Jack Green, 5. Aiden Read (15. Evaristo Mendes H/T), 6. Panny Boxer, 7. Remel Larwood (12. Ethan Rookard 59 mins), 8. Isaac Pedro, 9. Steve Cawley, 10. Eddie Corbit, 14. Lewis Taaffe. Sub not used: 17. Donny Green.

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(A) Rayners Lane

It was the same old story for Leverstock Green as they once again surrendered a winning position deep into stoppage time against relegation rivals Rayners Lane in the Southern League Division One Central.

Leverstock had not played for three weeks due to the constant rain which waterlogged their pitch, causing three home games to be postponed, and they looked rusty in this game. The home side had the better of the early stages, with keeper Ashton Broome-Alexander having to make two good saves in the opening ten minutes. In the 16th minute Kleyton Junior was through on goal, but Broome-Alexander did well to force him wide and out of play.

However, in the 22nd minute Rayners Lane were gifted a goal. Broome-Alexander played the ball out of his area to Dan Casey, who was under pressure from an opponent and lost the ball on the edge of the area. Suddenly Broome-Alexander was stranded out of goal as Pharell Mensah had a shooting chance and hit his shot in off the underside of the bar to put the home side in front. Leverstock were back on level terms five minutes later, though, as Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica played a great pass to put Joe McCarthy through on goal to slot the ball past keeper Matt Burrows for the equaliser.

Leverstock were unlucky not to go in front in the 34th minute when Tommy Boxer headed just over the bar from a corner. Four minutes later Stefanoaica made an impressive run into the box, but his ball across goal was cleared. In the 42nd minute Carmicheal Uchenna hit a shot from the edge of the box which Burrows couldn’t hold onto, but Stefanoaica couldn’t get to the rebound before Burrows gathered it. Uchenna was denied again in the last minute of the half, hitting a shot on the run which Burrows turned round the post.

The second half saw few chances for either side. In the 73rd minute Broome-Alexander did well to tip a rasping free kick from Mensah over the bar. The game looked like petering out to a draw until Leverstock made a breakthrough in the 87th minute. Substitute Marcus Warren played a pass which gave McCarthy a run at goal, and McCarthy squared across goal to present Jeffrey Sekyere with a tap-in for his 20th goal of the season to put Leverstock into a 2-1 lead.

Five minutes of stoppage time were signalled, and in the second minute Daniel Hector was through on goal for Rayners Lane, but Broome-Alexander pulled off a great save with his leg to keep the ball out. However, in the fifth minute a needless free kick was given away on the halfway line. The ball was pumped into the box, Leverstock couldn’t clear and Mensah netted from close range to rescue a point for his side and deny Leverstock the full three points. To add insult to injury, a poor decision by the referee saw Boxer shown a straight red card for a foul on Burrows which was a yellow card at best.

The point was still enough to lift Leverstock out of the relegation zone, but on a day when all the sides around them lost, the extra two points would have given them some breathing space.

Rayners Lane (1) 2 (Mensah 22, 90+5)
22. Matt Burrows, 2. Adeyemi Adewale (16. Abdul Saccoh 88 mins), 3. Troy Silvera, 4. Ayo Majekodunmi, 5. Myles Anderson, 6. Eric Schulz, 7. Deshane Dalling (14. Daniel Hector 58 mins), 8. Omarr Lawson, 9. Kleyton Dowglas De Biazze Junior, 10. Martin Youngah 12. Ade Gbolohan 68 mins), 11. Pharell Mensah. Subs not used: 15. Reuben Whittaker, 17. Kershaney Samuels.
Leverstock Green (1) 2 (McCarthy 27, Sekyere 87)
1. Ashton Broome-Alexander, 2. Dan Casey (14. George Mitchell-Gears 76 mins), 3. Rio Beach, 4. Dan Pett, 6. Ryan Carruthers (16. Marcus Warren 85 mins), 7. Joe McCarthy (15. Aldo Petagine 90 mins), 8. Kombe Kawimbe, 9. Jeffrey Sekyere, 10. Carmicheal Uchenna, 11. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica (18. Jack Allen 77 mins), 20. Tommy Boxer. Sub not used: 12. Olusegun Adedipe.

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