Leverstock Green bounced back from Saturday’s defeat with a superb performance to take all three points from second-placed Stotfold on Tuesday night. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica’s second half penalty was enough for the win as a dogged performance at the back maintained a clean sheet.

The first half saw the visitors have more of the possession and the better chances. In the 9th minute a long bouncing ball caught out the Green defence to leave Liam Brooks through on goal. Brooks sent a lob over Austin Byfield but it landed wide of the goal. On 15 minutes Kade Bagge hit a rasping shot from distance, but Byfield produced a spectacular diving one-handed save to turn it wide. Leverstock’s only real sight of goal in the first half came in the 23rd minute when Stefanoaica sidestepped a defender to open up space for a shot, but it was comfortably gathered by keeper Liam Gooch.

The second half was more evenly-contested and could have gone either way. In the 52nd minute a headed flick from Stefanoaica gave Richard Ennin a run at goal, but his shot was blocked wide. Dan Pett took the resulting corner which found Alvin Kyeremeh, but his header went over the bar.

A change at the back in the 69th minute saw Luke Durnin replace the yellow-carded Bobby Armstrong, and seconds later Stotfold had a great chance when Kurtis Alleyne broke clear and squared for Bagge, who had the goal at his mercy but shot over the bar from six yards.

On 71 minutes Kyeremeh got his head on another corner from Pett, but it went just wide. Two minutes later Leverstock had their chance when Ibrahim Nagheeb was brought down just inside the left edge of the penalty area. The referee pointed straight to the spot, and Stefanoaica stepped up to take the kick. Gooch got a hand to Stefanoaica’s shot but it still found the corner of the net to put Leverstock 1-0 up.

Five minutes later Stefanoaica had to leave the game injured, to be replaced by Chris Blunden. On 79 minutes there was almost a second goal as Ennin went on a run before hitting a curling shot which went inches wide of the far post.

The Green defence came under heavy pressure through a period of six minutes of stoppage time, but held firm to claim an impressive win which moves them back up to 8th place and will give some hope to the sides chasing Stotfold for second place.

Leverstock Green (0) 1 (Stefanoaica 73 pen)
1. Austin Byfield, 2. Ethan Mooney, 3. Rio Beach, 18. Bobby Armstrong (19. Luke Durnin 69 mins), 5. Alvin Kyeremeh, 6. Ryan Carruthers, 7. Elgeniy Daalberg, 8. Dan Pett, 9. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica (12. Chris Blunden 78 mins), 10. Ibrahim Nagheeb, 11. Richard Ennin. Subs not used: 14. Kurainashe Musanhi, 15. George Mitchell-Gears, 16. Dan Weeks.
Stotfold (0) 0
1. Liam Gooch, 2. Sammy Nicholls (16. Charlie Moss 75 mins), 3. Jordon Stewart, 4. Alex Coppin, 5. Jack Bradshaw, 6. Charlie Briggs, 7. Kade Bagge (14. Temi Akinbusoye 75 mins), 8. Mason Spence (12. Murphy Culkin 87 mins), 9. Kurtis Alleyne (15. Archie Sayer 71 mins), 10. Liam Brooks (17. Jordan Stevenson 75 mins), 11. Aaron Hector.

Leverstock Green were beaten for a second Saturday in a row, but this time it was a goal deep into stoppage time which saw them beaten at home by Cockfosters. It was a game of few chances between two very evenly-matched teams in which a draw would have been a fair result, but it was not to be in the end.

Leverstock had the better of the early part of the game, although with little to show for it. A foul on Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica gave them a free kick in a dangerous position on the edge of the box on 14 minutes, but Ibrahim Nagheeb’s effort flew over the bar. Danny May went closer with a shot from distance in the 27th minute but it was still wide of the target.

Cockfosters had shown little threat up to this point, but they took the lead in the 37th minute when Leverstock failed to deal with the visitors’ main tactic – the long throw. A huge throw was flicked on towards the far post where Aiden Read headed home. They almost got a second goal in the 43rd minute but were denied by a double save from Austin Byfield, the second of them turning the ball over the bar with his feet.

Leverstock made a brighter start to the second half, and found the equaliser five minutes in. Chris Blunden flicked the ball through to Stefanoaica, who rode a couple of challenges on a run into the box before slotting home from a narrow angle to level the scores.

The Green side continued to push forward but were unable to create any clear-cut chances. Cockfosters continued to use the long throw at every opportunity, and a couple of them caused moments of danger inside the Leverstock six-yard box, but as the game went into stoppage time, the scores were still level, and it was difficult to argue that either side deserved to win or lose the game.

For a game that saw few stoppages, the stoppage time went on for an inordinately long time. Over 5 minutes had been played when another long throw came into the Green box. The immediate danger appeared to have been cleared, but a shot from outside the box by Ethan Rookard was only parried away by Byfield, and Harrison Rookard was first to the rebound for an easy tap-in to win the game.

Leverstock Green (0) 1 (Stefanoaica 50)
1. Austin Byfield, 2. Alvin Kyeremeh, 3. Kurainashe Musanhi (14. Richard Ennin 66 mins), 4. Luke Durnin, 5. Danny May, 6. Rio Beach, 7. Elgeniy Daalberg (16. Ethan Mooney 74 mins), 8. Dan Pett, 9. Chris Blunden, 10. Ibrahim Nagheeb, 11. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica. Subs not used: 12. Ryan Carruthers, 15. George Mitchell-Gears, 18. Bobby Armstrong.
Cockfosters (1) 2 (Read 37, H.Rookard 90+6)
1. Charlie Mann, 2. Kenny Nobrega, 3. Prince Madu, 4. Matt Thomson, 5. Aiden Read, 6. Jay Lovell, 7. Antonio Michael, 8. Chris Griffin (14. Joe Entwistle 74 mins), 9. George Devine (16. Harrison Rookard 76 mins), 10. George Sippetts (17. Ethan Rookard 62 mins), 11. Cory Ugbomah (15. Reece Barrett 84 mins). Sub not used: 12. Olly Finch.

After three straight league defeats on the road, Leverstock Green returned home and got back to winning ways. Three second half goals ensured three points against visitors Hoddesdon Town, who had inflicted Leverstock’s first league defeat of the season back in October.

Assistant manager Scott McGleish was back in the dugout today – on crutches and in a cast but on the road to recovery from his fractured ankle. Fergus Moore tried out a new-look Leverstock formation, with three at the back, including a debut for Romario Jonas, on a dual registration from Broadfields United.

The initial stages of the game saw Leverstock with the bulk of the possession, but creating little in the way of chances. In the 5th minute a free kick from Rio Beach found Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica at the far post, but his header was wide. Kurainashe Musanhi and Dan Pett both had shots over the bar around the half-hour mark, but the first big chance came in the 35th minute. Stefanoaica was put clean through, and sent a lob over keeper Liam Nugent that looked to be heading for the net, but bounced up and came back off the bar.

The rebound dropped for Chris Blunden, but from a narrow angle and with a defender in the way he was unable to force the ball inside the post. Blunden was denied again in first half stoppage time when a cross from Musanhi set him up with a close-range shot which Nugent did well to keep out.

Leverstock were attacking up the slope in the second half, and five minutes in they finally found the net. A back pass from a Hoddesdon defender came up short and Blunden intercepted. Unable to put the ball away himself, Blunden squared for Stefanoaica, who took a couple of touches before steering the ball past the defenders on the line for the opening goal.

The lead was doubled in the 59th minute. Pett broke forward from the halfway line and laid the ball out to Stefanoaica, who returned the complement for the first goal by squaring for Blunden to shoot home from close range.

Further goals looked likely, as Ethan Mooney was denied by a great save from Nugent on 61 minutes, and a goalline clearance from Connor Bolton a minute later. Stefanoaica threatened again in the 69th minute with a surging run from the halfway line, but he ran into the keeper before he was able to shoot or lay off to Blunden.

On 72 minutes a stinging shot from Pett was tipped over the bar by Nugent. Pett’s first attempt at the resulting corner was headed behind for another corner. His second attempt had Nugent flapping unsuccessfully at the ball and Stefanoaica was there to head home his second and Leverstock’s third goal.

The Hoddesdon side kept battling throughout the game, and were unlucky not to pull a goal back in the 80th minute when a shot hit the post. Leverstock might have had a penalty late in the game when John Shamalo appeared to be brought down, but nothing was given, and they had to be content with the three goals. Stefanoaica was named man-of-the-match, but there was also an outstanding performance at the back from Danny May.

Leverstock Green (0) 3 (Stefanoaica 50, 73, Blunden 59)
1. Austin Byfield, 2. Danny May, 3. Kurainashe Musanhi (14. Richard Ennin 65 mins), 4. Dan Weeks, 18. Romario Jonas, 6. Ryan Carruthers, 7. Ethan Mooney (15. Alvin Kyeremeh 78 mins), 8. Dan Pett, 9. Chris Blunden (12. Elgeniy Daalberg 77 mins), 10. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica (17. John Shamalo 74 mins), 11. Rio Beach (16. Ibrahim Nagheeb 70 mins).
Hoddesdon Town (0) 0
1. Liam Nugent, 2. Harry Norman, 3. Connor Bolton, 4. Ben Fox (15. Terel Sterling 66 mins), 5. Chilbuikem Nzeh, 6. Jack Gibbs (12. Joe Parmley 15 mins), 7. Blue Gallagher (14. Larry Asare-Bediko 57 mins), 8. Sam Cross, 9. Callum Bennison (16. Joe Shemouda 57 mins), 10. Harry Andic, 11. Archie Locke. Sub not used: 18. Ethan Gannon.

Leverstock Green ended up frustrated after a goalless encounter with Arlesey Town. The Green side had the better of the play throughout, played some slick passing football and created a number of chances but could not get the ball in the net.

From early in the game it was clear that the visitors were set up to defend. Leverstock enjoyed a lot of possession and sprayed passes all round the pitch, but when it came to the final third the Arlesey defence proved an immovable object.

A handball just outside the box in the 15th minute gave Leverstock a chance from a free kick. Ibrahim Nagheeb’s first effort came back off the wall, but his second effort was deflected just wide. From the resulting corner Bobby Armstrong headed wide.

Three minutes later there was another in the succession of excellent corners delivered by Nagheeb, which found the head of Alvin Kyeremeh, but his header was diverted over the bar by the head of Will McClelland. Another corner in the 29th minute dropped for Armstrong inside the box, but his shot was cleared off the line, and in the 34th minute Kyeremeh got on the end of another Nagheeb corner but headed over the bar.

In the 40th minute a pass from Nagheeb gave Elgeniy Daalberg a run at goal, but his eventual shot was across goal and wide. The best chance of the half came a minute before the break when Kyeremeh was through on goal, but keeper Ollie Skinner kept his shot out.

The first half had been almost one-way traffic with Leverstock playing down the slope. Arlesey had the slope in their favour in the second half and had some isolated chances. Green keeper Tautvydas Poniskaitis made his first save of the game in the 59th minute to keep out a shot from Gabriel Ryan.

A double substitution in the 65th minute saw Chris Blunden and Richard Ennin enter the game, but Leverstock were still unable to convert their dominance into goals. A goalmouth scramble in the 69th minute saw a Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica headed onto the bar by a defender, and a follow-up effort from Stefanoaica was sliced wide from close range.

Scott McGleish came off the bench in the 80th minute and a minute later got on the end of a cross from Kyeremeh, but headed wide. A shot from Kyeremeh in the 84th minute went just over the bar.

As the game went into stoppage time Leverstock continued to pile pressure on the Arlesey goal from further corners that were delivered into the danger zone by Nagheeb, but the ball could not be forced over the line. Arlesey could have won the game deep into stoppage time as Tom Millett floated the ball forward to Jaime Nvuba, who headed wide from a good chance.

MOM went to young left-back Kurainashe Musanhi, who was excellent both in his defensive duties and in attacking down the left flank.

Leverstock Green 0
1. Tautvydas Poniskaitis, 2. Alvin Kyeremeh, 3. Kurainashe Musanhi, 4. Dan Weeks, 18. Bobby Armstrong, 6. Adrian Pitfield, 7. Elgeniy Daalberg (12. Chris Blunden 65 mins), 8. Ethan Mooney (16. Ayomide Oke 90+1 mins), 9. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica (20. Scott McGleish 80 mins), 10. Ibrahim Nagheeb, 11. Luke Beckwith (14. Richard Ennin 65 mins). Sub not used: 15. Raheem Khan.
Arlesey Town 0
1. Ollie Skinner, 2. Tom Millett, 3. Vinnie Baker (15. Matt Gilbert 75 mins), 5. Will McClelland, 6. Dan Wappett, 7. Gabriel Ryan (14. Jaime Nvuba 55 mins), 9. Luke Smith (16. Dimagio Robinson 68 mins), 10. Bruno Brito, 11. Reece Crowter, 12. Dan Udanoh, 17. Alex Taylor (8. Freddie Stanley 68 mins). Sub not used: 4. Adam Randall.