Leverstock Green fell to a dramatic stoppage time defeat in Tuesday night’s SSML Premier Division game at Cockfosters. Leverstock had enough chances to have won the game, but failed to take them, and in the end it was a deserved win for a hard-working Cockfosters side.

The home side had a good chance to open the scoring in the 11th minute when a cross from the left was poorly defended. Yacine Aiba had a clear shooting chance but hit it wide. Leverstock had a good spell midway through the half when they created several chances. In the 20th minute Alex Witham went on a solo run before hitting a shot which was turned wide by keeper Adam Seymour.

Two minutes later Witham played the ball through to Alex Yearwood, who shot wide. A minute later Yearwood played a great one-two with Chris Blunden to go clean through, but Seymour saved with his legs. In the 25th minute Witham headed a cross from Mark Smith down to Blunden, but his shot was saved by Seymour.

On 32 minutes Cockfosters had another good chance when a short goal kick put the Green defence under pressure, but Tobi Omutosho shot wide from the edge of the box. Two minutes later at the other end Seymour saved again from a shot by Jude Bell, and on 40 minutes Arvydas Kacinkevicius had to produce his first save of the game, turning a good shot from Aiba round the post. Two minutes before the break Seymour gathered a long-range shot from Reynaldo Carbon to ensure that the first half ended goalless.

Just before the hour Leverstock had another near miss when Witham sent over a free kick and Luke Preedy’s glancing header went just wide. However, the home side then had a good spell. They should have gone in front on 62 minutes from a corner but Adam Murad headed over the bar from close range. A minute later they did go in front when a ball was chased to the bye-line and put across the face of goal, where George Beattie was all alone to slide the ball under Kacinkevicius from close range.

Leverstock came close to an equaliser on 76 minutes when Blunden hit a long-range free kick which Seymour did well to parry away. However, two minutes later a great pass from Witham allowed Preedy to get in behind the defence, and when Preedy went down under a challenge from Chris Arkoh, the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Blunden stepped up to take the kick, and successfully found the net to level the scores at 1-1.

The last few minutes saw action in both penalty areas with Carbon putting Leverstock’s best chance over the bar. Two minutes into stoppage time it looked like Kacinkevicius had preserved a point for his side when he turned away a shot from Sam Ruff on the break. However, there was still time for another Cockfosters attack in the fourth minute of stoppage time, and Beattie broke away to slot the ball past the advancing Kacinkevicius to snatch a last-gasp victory for his side.

A disappointing result in the end, but the Green side must pick themselves up for Saturday’s home match against Oxhey Jets, which will be only their second home league match of the season.

A depleted Leverstock Green put in a great effort to come away with a point from a 2-2 draw in Tuesday night’s visit to Cockfosters in the SSML Premier Division. Several players had dropped out due to illness during the day, and with others unavailable, there was only one sub named in a 12-man squad for this game, some of whom were not even fully fit themselves.

The home side took the lead in the 12th minute from a contentious free kick awarded just outside the box – if anything it looked as though David Lawrence had been fouled rather than committing a foul. Corey Stewart took the free kick, and while his first effort was blocked by the wall, the ball went back to him and his second shot went through a crowd of players and past the unsighted Mackenzie Taylor into the net.

However, their lead only lasted for four minutes as Leverstock fought back. Reece Cameron battled to the byeline and drilled the ball across goal where a deflection off home defender Lawrence Rispoli sent the ball into the net for an own goal.

In the 20th minute Leverstock had another chance when a free kick from Lawrence was not cleared, and the ball dropped for Cameron, but he didn’t quite get hold of his shot and keeper Ben Sales saved. However, four minutes later a threaded pass from Ross Adams was deflected into the path of Cameron, and this time he took the chance to shoot home his first goal for the club and put the Green 2-1 up.

Jay Caines had a run at goal in the 28th minute but his shot was saved by Sales, while a minute later at the other end Taylor had to pull off a good save when a free kick from Piero Bagarone found the head of a forward six yards out.

Two minutes before the break a quickly-taken free kick put Caines through on goal again, but again Sales saved his shot. At the other end a minute later Bradley Robinson hit a long-range effort which was turned round the post by Taylor. However, the resulting corner taken by Bagarone was not cleared, and after a spell of pinball inside the box Ian Salt slipped the ball under Taylor to level for Cockfosters on the stroke of half time.

Leverstock skipper Shane Wood had been struggling with an injury since the closing minutes of the first half, and only lasted eight minutes of the second half before having to be replaced by under-18 player Max Jessop. With no other sub available, this left Chris Gosling effectively playing with one arm for the rest of the game due to a shoulder injury.

Cockfosters felt they were denied a clear penalty early in the second half as the referee waved play on, and they had a chance to take the lead on 57 minutes when Bagarone went clean through, but Taylor did well to dive at his feet and claim the ball. Three minutes later Taylor saved a free kick from Stewart, and although a forward followed in and forced the ball over the line, the referee felt the ball had been kicked out of Taylor’s hands and disallowed the goal.

Leverstock went for more of a long ball game in the second half and started to create some chances. Sales had to save shots from Gosling on 63 minutes and Cameron four minutes later. On 70 minutes Cameron clipped a nice ball towards the far post but Luke Preedy wasn’t quite able to get there ahead of Sales. Four minutes later Cockfosters had their nearest miss of the half. Bagarone was allowed to run through before laying off to Kojo Gyimah, whose shot was blocked by Taylor. The ball went back to Gyimah but his second effort hit the bar. In the last minute a long kick from Taylor was flicked on to put Ross Adams through, but his shot went just over the bar.

In the end it was a fair result between two teams that gave their all on a difficult, strength-sapping surface. There were several notable performances in the Leverstock side, including Gosling playing through injury and Cameron’s bustling up front, but it was Luke Preedy’s non-stop running throughout the game that got him the man-of-the-match nomination.

This coming Saturday Leverstock are at home to Holmer Green.

Despite a bright start to the match, Leverstock Green ended up well beaten by a very good Cockfosters side in Saturday’s SSML Premier Division fixture at Chalk Lane.

It all started well when Leverstock took the lead in the third minute of the game. Curtis Donaldson brought the ball out of defence and found Ross Adams, who played a great pass to set Tremayne Charles away down the right, and Charles’ cross was sidefooted home by Lewis Bowers.

The home side fought back, although their equaliser in the 14th minute was gifted to them. As a cross came in from the left, Zak Howells tried to head the ball back to Liam Jahn, but Cockfosters forward Ioannis Varouxakis was inbetween them and easily intercepted and bundled the ball home.

Two goals late in the half swung the match firmly in the home side’s favour. In the 43rd minute Cockfosters broke quickly down the right and Cameron Ferguson squared for Varouxakis to shoot home his second. In the first minute of stoppage time Jason Beck headed home a third Cockfosters goal unchallenged from a corner.

However, the home side were reduced to ten men before the break when Ferguson was shown a straight red for serious foul play off the ball that was only seen by the linesman.

Leverstock needed an early goal in the second half to get back into the game, and they almost got one on 49 minutes when Charles broke down the right and crossed for new signing Danilson Vicente, but keeper Austin Byfield was quickly off his line to block the shot. Within a minute a pass from Donaldson put Charles through but he shot straight at Byfield.

Even with the numerical advantage the Green side created little after that, and Cockfosters confirmed their win with two further goals in the last ten minutes. Bobby Sears headed home a cross from Ben Spaul for the fourth goal on 81 minutes and added a fifth in the 86th minute.

Next up for Leverstock is a visit to Colney Heath for a league game on Tuesday night.