Brickfield Lane

Hadley F.C.

Brickfield Lane,
Arkley,
Herts,
EN5 3LD

(A) Hadley

Leverstock Green were once again denied a first away win in the Southern League by a stoppage time equaliser. The three additional minutes had been played and the referee was about to blow for time when Hadley snatched an equaliser. It would have been a deserved win for Leverstock, who had come from behind to lead against the team second in the league at the start of play.

Leverstock started the game well and went close to a goal in the 7th minute when Josh Dooley hit the bar with a header from a corner. Three minutes later a cross from Isaiah Hilaire was met by Luke Beckwith at the near post but he couldn’t quite divert his shot on target. The game was evenly-fought for much of the half, but five minutes before the break the home side took the lead. After a shot from Billy Hayes was tipped onto the bar and over by Alfie Bonfield, the resulting corner caused a goalmouth scramble in which Isaac Stones forced the ball home. The goal stood despite protests from the Leverstock side that there had been a push in the buildup.

The second half was similarly competitive. In the 51st minute Rio Beach was released down the left on a run before crossing for Rawn Seale, whose shot bounced up off the ground and was tipped over the bar by a spectacular save from home keeper Charlie Taylor. Seale was unlucky again in the 62nd minute when his overhead shot went just wide.

Leverstock kept pushing and finally got their reward in the 72nd minute. Beach made another good run into the box before squaring across goal for Beckwith, who lashed home a fierce shot for the equaliser. It got even better for Leverstock four minutes later. Ademide Baruwa was near the angle of the penalty area when he hit a low shot along the ground which went through a crowd of players. Taylor was unsighted and dived too late to stop the ball going into the bottom corner of the net for a 2-1 Leverstock lead.

Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica had made his return from injury off the bench during the second half and had the chance to further extend the Leverstock lead ten minutes from time, running clear of the Hadley defence but putting his eventual shot just over the bar. Leverstock still held their lead as the game went into stoppage time, and they looked to have weathered a period of intense Hadley pressure as the referee looked set to blow for time with three minutes played, but the game went on and out of nowhere Stones blasted a shot from the edge of the penalty area that gave Bonfield no chance and rescued a point for his side.

Even then the referee played further time after the restart and Bonfield had to make a save just to preserve the Leverstock point, but the game eventually finished 2-2. Leverstock now have an 11-day break before their next game, which should hopefully allow some of the many players missing through injury today to get fit again.

Hadley (1) 2 (Stones 40, 90+4)
1. Charlie Taylor, 2. Callum Ismail (16. George Alfieri 79 mins), 3. Caoilan McGettigan, 4. Hedley Ogbebor, 5. Luke Massingham, 6. Hermes Gbio, 7. Finley Aldridge (17. Toby Goudl 59 mins), 8. Jordan Edwards (18. Cameron Ferguson H/T), 9. Isaac Stones, 10. Billy Hayes (14. Peter Rosemin 85 mins), 11. Luke Alfano. Sub not used: 12. Panny Boxer.
Leverstock Green (0) 2 (Beckwith 72, Baruwa 76)
1. Alfie Bonfield, 2. Josh Dooley, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Dan Weeks, 18. Eyituoyo Akinbulumo, 6. Ademide Baruwa, 7. Lewis Collins (17. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica 66 mins), 8. Nat Connolly, 9. Rawn Seale, 10. Luke Beckwith (15. Callum Neal 85 mins), 11. Isaiah Hilaire (12. Jamie Breen 79 mins). Subs not used: 14. Tyrone Kumi, 16. Cem Poyraz.

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(A) Hadley

Leverstock Green’s run in the Gladwish Challenge Trophy ended at the quarter-final stage as they were beaten in a penalty shoot out by Hadley after conceding an equaliser in stoppage time. It was a great second half display by the Green side as they came back from a goal down at half time to lead 2-1, but couldn’t hold on for a deserved win.

With regular keeper Alfie Bonfield rested due to an injury, under-18 keeper Oscar Frost came in for his second first team appearance of the season, and turned in an excellent display. In the 5th minute Frost pulled off a good save to keep out a header from Aaron Scott. Leverstock had a chance from a free kick just outside the box in the 15th minute, but Kian Wilkes’ effort went over the bar. Seven minutes later a cross from Rio Beach found Sean Walsh, who took the ball down well, but didn’t get hold of his shot properly.

In the 26th minute Hadley had an effort from Jordan Edwards cleared off the line, and three minutes later Sam Edwards hit a free kick just wide. Hadley went in front in the 32nd minute when Solomon Ofori broke clear and ran on to slot the ball past Frost. Ofori was close to a second on 37 minutes but his shot hit the bar.

Hadley went into the break leading 1-0 but Leverstock produced a great response in the second half. On 55 minutes a shot from Dan Pett was cleared off the line. Two minutes later Beach floated a free kick into the six yard box and Rawn Seale connected with a powerful header to level the scores at 1-1.

In the 69th minute a flick from Walsh gave Seale the chance to run into the box, where he was brought down by a challenge from Scott. Despite the protests of the Hadley players, the referee awarded the penalty, and Ethan Mooney netted his second spot kick in successive games to put Leverstock in front at 2-1.

Leverstock had a great chance to stretch their lead in the 78th minute when a neat pass from Mooney put Seale through on goal, but his shot went just over the bar.

As the clock ticked into stoppage time Leverstock were still in the lead, but a Hadley cross from the left caused problems inside the Green box, and substitute Peter Rosemin smashed home a shot to level the scores at 2-2. Even then Leverstock could have won the game further into stoppage time, but a header from WIlkes was saved.

With the scores level at 2-2 at full time, the game went into a penalty shoot out, and it didn’t get off to a great start for Leverstock with Pett’s kick being saved, while Sam Edwards scored Hadley’s first kick. Mooney levelled the scores at 1-1, and then Frost produced a great save to keep out Billy Baird’s second kick for Hadley. However, Leverstock’s third kick, from Rio Beach, struck the underside of the bar and bounced away from goal, allowing Hadley to go back in front through Billy Hayes. Wilkes and Nagheeb Ibrahim were successful with Leverstock’s remaining kicks, but Rosemin and Ed Davis were also on target for Hadley as they won the shootout 4-3.

Hadley (1) 2 (Ofori 32, Rosemin 90+1)
Team: 1. Luke Ward, 2. Billy Baird, 4. Aaron Scott (18. Ed Davis 71 mins), 5. Tom Milton, 6. Dylan Ebengo, 7. Solomon Ofori, 8. Cameron Ferguson (16. Noah Salama 78 mins), 9. Jordan Edwards (14. Peter Rosemin 71 mins), 10. Sam Edwards, 11. Zack Uribarri, 17. Billy Hayes. Subs not used: 13. Davis Boeteng, 15. Stephen O’Hara.
Leverstock Green (0) 2 (Seale 57, Mooney 69 pen)
Team: 1. Oscar Frost, 2. Ollie Cox, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Dan Weeks, 18. Scott McGleish, 6. Kian Wilkes, 7. Ethan Mooney, 8. Dan Pett, 9. Rawn Seale, 10. Sean Walsh (15. Elgeniy Daalberg 78 mins), 11. Nagheeb Ibrahim. Subs not used: 12. Jack Allen, 14. Ryan Carruthers, 16. Adam Page, 17. Alfie Bonfield.

Hadley win 4-3 on penalties.

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(A) Hadley

Leverstock Green bounced back from their midweek defeat in style as they scored two second half goals to secure an impressive win at Hadley in Saturday’s SSML Premier Division game. It was a strong performance all round from Fergus Moore’s side, and eventually they took advantage of the home side’s struggle to defend set pieces to score twice from corners.

There were few chances for either side in the early stages. In the 20th minute Dan Weeks got on the end of one of several excellent corner deliveries from Paplamin Jawara, but headed over the bar. On 25 minutes Hadley had the ball in the net. Sam Edwards struck a low free kick from distance which hit the post. Billy Baird followed up to net the rebound, but his shot was touched in on the line by Jordan Edwards, who was flagged offside.

Leverstock went close in the 35th minute as Rio Beach delivered a great cross from the left touchline which just eluded Rawn Seale sliding in at the far post. Five minutes later there was an even better chance. Jawara delivered a free kick to the far post, which Kian Wilkes headed back across goal. Dan Pett came in with the goal at his mercy but couldn’t keep his header under the bar. In the last minute of the half Wilkes sent over another dangerous cross to the far post which was cleared by a defender just before Lewis Collins could get to it.

As the second half wore on Leverstock were looking the more likely team to score. On 54 minutes Weeks got his head to another Jawara corner, but it went wide. However, on 60 minutes it was Hadley with the chance as Solomon Ofori broke clear, but Alfie Bonfield pulled off a superb save to keep out Ofori’s shot.

A minute later Leverstock went close again when Seale headed just over from a Wilkes cross, and on 64 minutes Seale ran onto a lofted pass from Beach, but keeper Luke Ward came out of his goal and just reached the ball ahead of Seale.

The breakthrough came in the 71st minute as Leverstock won a series of corners. Jawara’s first two deliveries were just about headed behind by the Hadley defence, but the third was not cleared, and Seale pounced on the loose ball to rifle home a shot into the corner of the net.

Hadley’s weakness at defending corners was exploited again in the 80th minute as Jawara delivered another peach of a cross and Wilkes came in unmarked to head home from close range and put Leverstock into a 2-0 lead.

That proved to be enough for the win, as the Green side held out comfortably for the clean sheet. This game concluded a run of five straight away games from which Leverstock have registered ten points. They finally return to Pancake Lane to face Broadfields United next Saturday.

Both teams today were presented with awards by SSML official Bill Hamilton. On the left Leverstock skipper Dan Weeks has the Respect Team of the Month award for August, and on the right Hadley skipper Paul Wright has the Team of the Month award for August. (Photo by Tony Smart)

Hadley (0) 0
Team: 1. Luke Ward, 2. Bradley Marriott, 3. Andrew White (16. Williams Danquah 76 mins), 4. Paul Wright, 5. Billy Baird, 6. Tom Milton, 7. Solomon Ofori, 8. Teddy Stacey (17. Ed Davis 76 mins), 9. Sam Edwards (12. Zack Uribarri 69 mins), 10. Jordan Edwards, 11. Luke Alfano. Subs not used: 13. Charlie Mann, 18. Cameron Ferguson.

Leverstock Green (0) 2 (Seale 71, Wilkes 80)
Team: 1. Alfie Bonfield, 2. Harry Bonner, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Dan Weeks, 5. Paul Marks, 6. Kian Wilkes (12. Ryan Carruthers 90+2 mins), 7. Lewis Collins (18. Adrian Pitfield 89 mins), 8. Dan Pett, 9. Rawn Seale, 10. Ollie Lawford (17. Ethan Mooney 61 mins), 11. Paplamin Jawara. Subs not used: 14. Elgeniy Daalberg, 16. Mikkel James.

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(A) Hadley

Phil Granville’s first match in charge of Leverstock Green ended in a 3-0 defeat at Hadley. It was hardly a three-goal game, but Hadley were clinical in their finishing, and their defence was as impenetrable as it had been in the two FA Cup ties between the two sides earlier in the season.

There were two new additions to the Leverstock squad, with the signing of goalkeeper Nathan Pickworth, who has come up through MK Dons Academy and is also signed at AFC Rushden & Diamonds, and the return to the club of striker Danilson Vicente.

Hadley went in front in the 6th minute. A free kick from the right touchline was not cleared, and Nathan Linton pounced on the loose ball to hit a shot through a crowd of players that gave Pickworth no chance.

Other than that, there was little in the way of chances for either side in the early stages. Leverstock’s first effort at goal came in the 38th minute when a shot from Luke Preedy was gathered by home keeper Luke Ward. Two minutes later, though, a ferocious long-range shot from Alex Witham had Ward beaten but cracked against the crossbar. On the stroke of half time Witham battled to the bye-line and put the ball across the face of goal, but Gursewak Jagdev just failed to connect with it as he slid in.

Leverstock were rather unfortunate to be trailing as the half ended, but the second half was equally short on chances, while still being an evenly-contested game. Pickworth did well to beat away a shot from Bradley Marriott in the 66th minute, but Hadley scored a crucial second goal in the 78th minute, as Emmanuel Hammond passed to Shaz Anwar, who stroked home a low shot from the edge of the box to put his side firmly in control.

The Green side were unlucky again two minutes from time as Reynaldo Carbon hit a fine shot, but it brought a brilliant save out of Ward. That could have put Leverstock back in the game with the referee indicating six minutes of stoppage time, but in the first of those minutes Hadley made absolutely sure of the points. Mark Smith’s attempted pass upfield was cut out by Hammond, who ran clean through to slot past Pickworth for the third goal.

Having played the sides in second and third over the last two games, Leverstock entertain sixth-placed Arlesey Town in next Saturday’s SSML Premier Division fixture.

 

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(A) Hadley

Leverstock Green’s run of league wins came to an abrupt end on a murky night at Hadley as they were well beaten in Wednesday night’s SSML Premier Division game. It was a disappointing performance from the Leverstock side, who have yet to pick up a single point from their away games in the league.

There could have been an early lead for the Green side when Matt Bateman was clean through in the 5th minute, but his shot was saved by Hadley keeper Davis Boateng. Instead it was the home side who opened the scoring in the 16th minute. Zaine Gangadeen got past Ross Adams down the right and put over a cross which Shane Wood should have cleared, however Wood let the ball get away from him, and Lewis Francis pounced on the mistake to drill an unstoppable shot into the top corner of the net.

However, three minutes later the scores were level as Bateman went on an impressive solo run down the right before cutting into the box and slotting the ball past Boateng. A defender slid in to try to clear, but could only help the ball into the net. Leverstock had their tails up now, and went close again in the 22nd minute when Chinua Cole made a run into the box and put over a cross, but David Lawrence’s looping header was saved by Boateng.

Two minutes later, a quick Hadley break seemed to have been stopped as Cole won the ball from Francis inside the box, however Cole then slipped over leaving Francis with the goal at his mercy to fire home his second goal and put Hadley 2-1 up.

On 28 minutes Bateman hit a free kick just wide, and on 37 minutes Leverstock had the ball in the net again after a spell of pinball inside the box, but it was disallowed for offside. The game still looked in the balance at this point, but Hadley struck a decisive third goal in the 41st minute as a long-range strike from Cameron Ferguson took a deflection off a Leverstock defender which sent it looping over Caolan Doyle-Creamer into the top corner of the net.

A goal before half time would have put Leverstock back in the game, and they looked set to get it a minute before the break as Bateman was clean through again, but Boateng used his legs to keep out Bateman’s shot.

3-1 was not an insurmountable deficit for the Green side to pull back in the second half, but they never looked like making a dent in the score. Doyle-Creamer’s save to turn a shot from Gangadeen round the post in the 58th minute was one of several impressive stops by the young Leverstock keeper which kept Hadley from running away with the game. A rare mistake at the back from Hadley gave Reynaldo Carbon the chance to pull a goal back in the 72nd minute, but he shot wide. Two minutes later a simple passing move from Hadley resulted in Justin Thompson converting a cross from close range for a 4-1 lead. Jermeel Jno-Baptiste added the 5th goal in the 87th minute, netting the rebound after Doyle-Creamer had done well to save his first effort.

Leverstock have no game this Saturday due to their scheduled opponents Colney Heath being involved in the FA Vase. Their next game is at home to Hoddesdon Town next Tuesday night.

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(A) Hadley

Leverstock Green probably deserved the win on the balance of play and chances created, but they had to be content with a 1-1 draw from Wednesday night’s trip to Hadley for their penultimate SSML Premier Division game of the season. The result extended Leverstock’s unbeaten run to seven games, four of which have been drawn.

After a quiet opening to the game which produced little in the way of chances, the Green took the lead in the 17th minute. Curtis Donaldson won the ball and passed it to Jonathan Lacey, who shot home from the edge of the box for his 30th goal of a remarkable season.

However, Hadley were level three minutes later. A cross from the right found Laste Dombaxe in the box with his back to goal, but despite having defenders around him, he was able to feed the ball to David Martinez, who was wide open to slot home past Liam Jahn.

Leverstock almost went back in front immediately as Lacey was through on goal, but this time he was denied by keeper Charlie Mann. A minute later Oliseh Okwudi was in with a good shooting chance, but hit it over the bar. Hadley could have gone in front two minutes before the break when the Green defence was cut open by a pass that put Samuel Odusoga through on goal, but Jahn came off his line and was able to get a crucial partial block on the shot, and Karl Thomas cleared away the danger.

Hadley’s Connor Bolton brought a save out of Jahn with a shot in the 57th minute, but most of the chances in the second half were created by Leverstock. On 62 minutes Donaldson almost caught Mann out with a quickly-taken free kick that was heading for the top corner, but the keeper was able to get across and tip the ball over.

Four minutes later Brima Johnson made inroads into the Hadley half before finding Lacey, who juggled the ball a few times before lobbing it to the far post, where Donaldson headed over the bar. On 76 minutes a pass from Donaldson put Lacey away down the left to send a ball fizzing across the face of goal. Ross Adams came sliding in to meet it at the far post, but couldn’t keep it under the bar. A similarly presentable, but difficult chance was created two minutes from time as Lacey whipped another cross into the box. This time it was Donaldson who slid in but put the ball over the bar from six yards out. In the first minute of stoppage time a Dombaxe shot from distance along the ground could have caused problems, but Jahn gathered it safely.

Leverstock sit in 11th place in the table, and a draw from their final game at home to 12th placed Crawley Green on Saturday would be enough to confirm a top-half finish.

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