It was a frustrating afternoon for Leverstock Green FC as they dominated most of their game against London Lions on Saturday, but had to be content with a point from a 1-1 draw after conceding an equaliser from the penalty spot.

Leverstock made a strong start to the game, and Rawn Seale had the first shot on goal in the 5th minute, but his effort from a narrow angle was fielded by visiting keeper Nathan Bloohn. In the 15th minute Bloohn was brought into action again, doing well to turn a rasping shot from Paul Marks round the post, and Bloohn made another good save in the 21st minute to turn away a shot from Rio Beach after a run into the box.

Beach made another mazy run into the box in the 40th minute, but again his effort was blocked and Luke Beckwith shot over the bar from the rebound. Two minutes later a Dan Pett free kick was headed back across goal by Callum Neal to find Seale right in front of goal, but he couldn’t get a clean effort on the ball to put it away. At half time it was still goalless despite Leverstock having been on top throughout and Josh Bowler not having to make a single save at the other end.

The second half picked up from where the first had left off, with Leverstock Green FC continuing to do all the attacking. There was another near-miss in the 52nd minute when Pett’s corner found Neal, whose header was on target but was headed off the line by a defender. In the 64th minute a trip on Beach just outside the penalty area gave Leverstock a free kick in a very dangerous position. Lewis Collins stepped up to take the kick and hit it perfectly, curling it over the wall and into the top corner of the net to finally give Leverstock a long-overdue lead.

Up to this point the visitors had still produced nothing to trouble the Leverstock goal, but after three substitutions they started to push forward more in the last 15 minutes. In the 78th minute a good move put Austin Lipman through on goal, but Bowler produced a great save to turn the ball away. The rebound was not cleared however, and seconds later a challenge from Marks inside the box brought down a Lions player, and the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Lipman made no mistake from the spot kick and the scores were level at 1-1.

Leverstock Green FC continued to push forward promisingly over the remaining minutes, but came up frustratingly short of creating a clear-cut chance, even after bringing on top scorer Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica, who hadn’t been fit enough to start the game. It was the visitors who came closest to winning the game, with Bowler having to pull off another good save to keep out a shot from Yoav Wynne in the 85th minute, and in stoppage time Lions broke away quickly from a Leverstock corner and had a good chance with a close-range header, but fortunately for the Green side it was off-target. Although Leverstock will see it as two points dropped, a series of draws elsewhere in the division meant that they didn’t lose any ground in their quest for the play-offs.

Leverstock Green FC (0) 1 (Collins 64)
1. Josh Bowler, 2. Callum Neal, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Dan Weeks, 5. Paul Marks, 6. Ryan Carruthers, 7. Luke Beckwith (15. Jayden Newman 76 mins), 8. Dan Pett, 9. Rawn Seale (16. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica 83 mins), 10. Nat Connolly (12. Ademide Baruwa 80 mins), 11. Lewis Collins (14. Ethan Mooney 69 mins). Sub not used: 17. Mikey Havill-Tierney.
London Lions FC (0) 1 (Lipman 78 pen)
1. Nathan Bloohn, 2. Jake Furman, 3. Josh Diamond, 4. Adam Arnold (16. Jesse Tapnack 69 mins), 5. Alex Lee, 6. Leo Kaye, 7. Zak Jackson, 8. Oscar Wagner (15. Yoav Wynne 69 mins), 9. Max Kyte, 10. Austin Lipman, 11. Daniel Creese (12. Felix Shalom 76 mins). Subs not used: 14. Leo Carmelita, 17. Daniel Gillary.

 

Leverstock Green FC finally played their first match of 2024, and it proved to be a spectacular night as the Green side found their shooting boots to put six goals without reply past Biggleswade United.

Leverstock made a bright start to the game, with two half-chances within the opening five minutes, and they took the lead in the 8th minute. Top scorer Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica received the ball by the right touchline and went on a solo run into the box before slotting home from a narrow angle for his 18th goal of the season.

There was almost a second goal four minutes later when a free kick from Dan Pett found the head of Dan Weeks, but it was deflected wide off a defender. It wasn’t long coming, though, as Pett took the resulting corner and Callum Neal headed home from inside the six yard box to make it 2-0.

Leverstock Green FC were well in control of the game, and chances kept on coming. On 16 minutes a pass from Luke Beckwith put Stefanoaica in again. His shot hit the bar, and the rebound dropped for Rio Beach, but he couldn’t get his effort on target. A minute later Rawn Seale was through on goal but his shot was saved by keeper Tom Wyant. The third goal eventually arrived on 22 minutes, and it was very similar to the second as a Pett corner found Neal at the near post with a glancing header to notch his second of the night.

There could have been a fourth goal a minute later but Wyant did well to keep out shots from Beckwith and a rebound effort from Nat Connolly. In the 30th minute a pass down the wing from Neal gave Stefanoaica another run at goal, but his eventual shot was turned wide by Wyant. In first half stoppage time Connolly was denied again as he slid in to meet a cross from Beckwith, but it was saved from close range.

Leverstock picked up where they left off in the second half. In the 48th minute Connolly pushed forward before laying off to Beckwith, who hit a ferocious shot from the edge of the box that Wyant got a hand to, but couldn’t keep out to make it 4-0.

The visitors had some brighter moments during the second half, with Josh Bowler having a couple of saves to make, but the clean sheet was never seriously threatened. Leverstock started making some changes, and one of the subs Jayden Newman added his name to the scoresheet in the 74th minute, turning on the edge of the six-yard box before steering a shot past Wyant. Just a minute later it was 6-0 as a cross from Neal found Seale to flick the ball past Wyant from close range.

The three points take Leverstock Green FC back up to fourth place, and the six goals are a huge boost to their goal difference as they continue to compete for a promotion play-off place.

Leverstock Green FC (3) 6 (Stefanoaica 8, Neal 12, 22, Beckwith 48, Newman 74, Seale 75)
1. Josh Bowler, 2. Callum Neal (17. Brad Robinson 77 mins), 3. Rio Beach, 4. Dan Weeks, 18. Luke Durnin (14. Paul Marks 78 mins), 6. Ryan Carruthers, 7. Luke Beckwith (15. Ethan Mooney 62 mins), 8. Dan Pett, 9. Rawn Seale, 10. Nat Connolly, 11. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica (16. Jayden Newman 51 mins) (12. Callum Moore 77 mins).
Biggleswade United FC (0) 0
13. Tom Wyant, 16. Markel Cousins (14. Haseeb Fariad 64 mins), 3. Joe Babbage, 4. Mason Watkins-Clark (2. Aaron Dada 19 mins), 5. Cade Stephens-Abbey, 19. Gareth Hunt, 7. Aaron Hudson, 8. Jaiden Irish, 9. Coree Wilson (17. David Parkinson 56 mins), 10. Mekhi Angol, 11. Jake Stronge. Subs not used: 15. Ethan Flanagan, 18. Tom Roberts.