Leverstock Green’s survival battle will go down to the wire, as today’s results meant that they require a win from their final game at AFC Dunstable to secure safety. If Kings Langley had lost at Northwood it was possible that Leverstock could have been safe today, and for 12 minutes in the second half both results were going their way, but with Kings Langley coming back to win 3-2 in what was their final game, Leverstock were left requiring another win.

Leverstock made a strong start to the game and had several chances to take an early lead. In the 2nd minute a cross from Luke Beckwith just missed the head of Rawn Seale, but ran through to the far post where Callum Neal’s shot was saved by former Green keeper Alfie Bonfield. A goalmouth scramble in the 8th minute saw Beckwith hit the underside of the bar with a shot and Neal hit the post with a header from the rebound. In the 14th minute a pass from Seale put Beckwith through on goal, but his shot was straight at Bonfield.

In the 33rd minute Stotfold were saved by a header off the line, and in the 38th minute Nat Connolly struck a volley from the edge of the box which Bonfield did well to tip over the bar. Having dominated the half, Leverstock came under pressure in the closing minutes, being fortunate to survive a frantic goalmouth scramble. The resulting corner kick struck the far post.

With this game goalless at half time and Kings Langley a goal up, at that stage Leverstock were relegated. But ten minutes into the second half things started to turn around. In the 54th minute Callum Neal’s cross was met at the near post by Dan Pett with a powerful header to put Leverstock into a crucial lead. And little over a minute later Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica broke away down the right and delivered a cross which found Pett in front of goal to shoot home his second from close range and put Leverstock in control.

At about the same time Northwood were also scoring two quick-fire goals to turn their game around, and at that stage Leverstock were safe. But Kings Langley hit back with an equaliser 12 minutes later, which meant Leverstock would need a point from their last game, and eventually got a winner in stoppage time which changed the requirement from a draw to a win.

Leverstock’s two-goal lead never came under threat from a Stotfold side that had little to play for, but this was an excellent all-action performance from the Green side, and it is a performance that they will need to replicate on Saturday away at AFC Dunstable to secure another season in the Southern League.

Leverstock Green (0) 2 (Pett 54,56)
1. Ryan North, 2. Callum Neal, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Dan Weeks, 5. Josh Dooley, 6. Ryan Carruthers, 7. Luke Beckwith (12. Lewis Collins 86 mins), 8. Dan Pett, 9. Rawn Seale (15. Ethan Mooney 64 mins), 10. Nat Connolly (17. Marcus Warren 80 mins), 11. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica (16. Tomasz Siemienczuk 68 mins). Sub not used: 14. Guiseppe Delgaudio.
Stotfold (0) 0
1. Alfie Bonfield, 2. Tommy Reynolds (12. Josh Francis 59 mins), 3. Jack Brown (16. Miguel Ngwa 59 mins), 4. Ernest Njoroge (17. Robbie Buchanan 64 mins), 5. James Peters, 6. Aaron Diviney, 7. Patrick Matejko, 8. Mitchell Gooch (15. Billy Little 71 mins), 9. Remell Stirling, 10. Haroon Meriai (14. David Sarpong 71 mins), 11. Callum Kane.

 

Leverstock Green still have a chance of escaping relegation from the Southern League, but they were unable to add any points to their cause on Saturday as they were beaten by a second half goal against Thame United.

It was a game which had huge implications at both ends of the table, but produced few chances overall. The first half saw Leverstock go closest to scoring when Jeffrey Sekyere hit a shot across goal which went just wide in the 20th minute. Thame put the Leverstock goal under some pressure late in the half but didn’t get any efforts on target.

Four minutes into the second half Thame went close to opening the scoring when a long-distance effort from Ethan Luck hit the bar. Two minutes later there was a promising attack at the other end when Rawn Seale exchanged passes with Sekyere, but visiting keeper Matt Crowther came off his line to save from Seale.

The game’s only goal came in the 72nd minute, and it was an unfortunate one from the Leverstock perspective. Lewis Thorne’s shot from the edge of the box took a deflection which caused it to loop up and over Ryan North into the top corner of the net.

Leverstock pushed forward over the closing minutes but were unable to get anything out of the well-organised Thame defence. There was almost an equaliser with the last kick of the game, as a goalmouth scramble ensued from a Leverstock corner, but Seale was denied by Crowther from close range.

The result leaves Leverstock still four points adrift of safety with three games left to play, so some big results will be required from those games.

Leverstock Green (0) 0
1. Ryan North, 2. Callum Neal (12. Lewis Collins 78 mins), 3. Rio Beach, 4. Josh Dooley, 5. Gary Connolly, 6. Ademide Baruwa, 7. Luke Beckwith (16. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica 53 mins), 8. Nat Connolly (15. Tomasz Siemienczuk 73 mins), 9. Jeffrey Sekyere (14. Ethan Mooney 78 mins), 10. Kyle Connolly, 11. Rawn Seale. Sub not used: 17. Dan Weeks.
Thame United (0) 1 (Thorne 72)
1. Matthew Crowther, 2. Lewis Thorne, 3. Joshua Stranks, 4. Leo Galpin, 5. Ethan Lack, 6. Jefferson Louis, 7. Greg Hackett, 8. Jack Tutton, 9. Ty Deacon, 10. Curtis Brown, 11. Brayden Daniel (14. Rocko Tamplin 70 mins). Subs not used: 12. Finlay Murray, 15. Oscar Lucey.

Leverstock Green boosted their survival hopes with another three points, notching their first back-to-back league wins of the season against North Leigh. Leverstock had much the better of the game against their visitors, who are already doomed to finish bottom of Division One Central, but they had to be patient for their goals after a number of near-misses.

Leverstock had their first chance to open the scoring when they were awarded a penalty in the 17th minute after a cross from Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica was deflected wide by a defender’s hand. Stefanoaica took the penalty himself, but it was not a good kick and keeper Drew Brei was able to get down and save it, and save the follow-up effort from Stefanoaica.

In the 28th minute Kyle Connolly stepped up to take a free kick in a dangerous position just outside the box. His effort had Brei beaten but came back off the post. Connolly was denied by a save from Brei in the 37th minute, and was unlucky again two minutes later when he hit another well-struck free kick but this time hit the bar.

Finally in first half stoppage time Leverstock made the breakthrough. Marcus Warren’s corner found its way to the far post where Callum Neal bundled the ball home for his second goal in two games.

Leverstock continued to be in control in the second half, and added a second goal in the 62nd minute. A corner was headed back by Neal into the path of Dan Weeks, and the skipper hit a superb volley into the net to give his side some breathing space.

There were fewer chances in the second half, but Rawn Seale was unlucky on two occasions late in the game, having a shot turned round the post by Brei in the 78th minute, and hitting the bar with an overhead kick in stoppage time.

Leverstock Green (1) 2 (Neal 45+2, Weeks 62)
1. Ryan North, 2. Callum Neal (16. Keanu Fleming 83 mins), 3. Rio Beach, 4. Dan Weeks, 5. Josh Dooley, 6. Marcus Warren (15. Antonio Edubatey 71 mins), 7. Ethan Mooney (12. Luke Beckwith 55 mins), 8. Nat Connolly, 9. Tomasz Siemienczuk (17. Rawn Seale 75 mins), 10. Kyle Connolly, 11. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica (14. Lewis Collins 62 mins).
North Leigh (0) 0
1. Drew Brei, 2. Denzel Tengwana, 3. Pelumi Maxwell, 4. George Rushton, 5. Edward Odley, 6. Gabriel Amadiah, 7. Samuel Olawale, 8. Helton Biague (12. Reuben Githua 60 mins), 9. Toby Shoyoye, 10. Louis Mathias, 11. Mekhi Thomas (16. Morgan Williams 83 mins). Subs not used: 14. Victor Hernandez, 15. Andre Bromfield.