It was a must-win game for Leverstock Green against relegation rivals Northwood, and Callum Neal’s second half goal ensured that the three points were duly taken. The win moves Leverstock out of the Southern League Division One Central relegation zone on goal difference, with five games to play.

The whole Leverstock team put in a tremendous shift with a strong, disciplined performance against a dangerous Northwood side that had scored five goals in their previous game. There were some early chances for the Green side. In the 4th minute Jeffrey Sekyere won a header in the box to set up Luke Beckwith with a chance, but he shot into the side netting. Three minutes later Beckwith was in on goal again from an Ademide Baruwa pass, but visiting keeper Dan Hosier turned his shot wide. In the 10th minute Sekyere had a shooting chance from close range but it took a deflection off a defender and went just over the bar. In the 35th minute Callum Neal connected with a volley from the edge of the box that went across goal and wide.

The second half saw Northwood attacking down the slope, and in the 53rd minute Samuel Folarin had a run at goal but his shot was saved by Ryan North. Two minutes later came the crucial moment as Leverstock were awarded a free kick midway inside the Northwood half. Kyle Connolly floated in a perfect delivery which Neal met on the edge of the area with a thumping header that beat Hosier to open the scoring.

There were chances for Leverstock to extend their lead. In the 67th minute a long-range shot from Dan Pett was turned wide by Hosier. Three minutes later Rawn Seale hit the bar with a header from a corner. In the 73rd minute a quick break saw Pett feed the ball out wide to Seale, who ran on to put over a cross which found Sekyere with a header that went wide.

There was still only a single goal in it as the game went into stoppage time, which made for a very tense finish. There was a heart-stopping moment when Omar Rowe had a shooting chance from the edge of the box, but North pulled off a great save to keep it out, and eventually the referee blew for time and Leverstock had their three points.

Leverstock Green (0) 1 (Neal 55)
1. Ryan North, 2. Callum Neal, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Josh Dooley, 5. Gary Connolly, 6. Ademide Baruwa, 7. Luke Beckwith (15. Ethan Mooney 87 mins), 8. Dan Pett, 9. Jeffrey Sekyere, 10. Kyle Connolly, 11. Rawn Seale. Subs not used: 12. Lewis Collins, 14. Nat Connolly, 16. Tomasz Siemienczuk, 17. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica.
Northwood (0) 0
1. Dan Hosier, 2. Emmanuel Folarin, 3. Jayden Ashbourne (17. Alex Cathline 81 mins), 4. Jordan Ajanlekoko, 5. Reece Yorke, 6. Ronnie Mfinda (14. Stefan Powell 70 mins), 7. Bradley Clayton, 8. Troy Perez-Duah, 9. Samuel Folarin, 10. Omar Rowe, 11. Rio Connell. Subs not used: 12. Jack Empson, 15. Jon-Jo Bates, 16. Denis Nortey.

Leverstock Green boosted their survival hopes with a convincing win over neighbours Kings Langley in front of a season’s best crowd of 273 at the Lords Builders Merchants Stadium on Saturday.

All the goals were scored in the first half, as Leverstock capitalised on a strong start to the game. They could have gone ahead in the 3rd minute when a low free kick from Kyle Connolly was kept out by a full-length dive from former Leverstock keeper Adi Connolly in the Kings Langley goal, but they only had to wait another two minutes to take the lead. A corner from the right by Kyle Connolly was met with a thumping header from Rawn Seale to open the scoring.

The visitors went close to an equaliser in the 15th minute when a free kick from Bradley Smith hit the side netting. However, it was Leverstock who struck next with an almost carbon copy of the first goal in the 26th minute. This time it was Dan Pett swinging in a corner from the left, but again Seale came in to meet it with another emphatic header for his second goal.

Seven minutes later it was 3-0 as a back pass from Declan Phillips was intercepted by Jeffrey Sekyere, who ran on to slot the ball past Connolly and in off the post.

The second half saw the visitors offer more of an attacking threat. They went close to pulling a goal back in the 55th minute when a shot from Edu Toiny-Pendred was parried away by Ryan North. Smith looked certain to score from the rebound but Nat Connolly kept his shot out with a brilliant goalline clearance.

In the 60th minute Sekyere looked set to score his second as he ran onto a pass from Kyle Connolly and nodded the ball past Adi Connolly, but Connolly then pulled him down, giving the referee no option but to show a straight red card. Kings Langley had a sub keeper on the bench but they were now down to ten men.

Sekyere should have scored again three minutes later when Kyle Connolly set him up with a sitter, but he shot over the bar from close range, while two minutes later at the other end Smith was unlucky again as he hit the bar with a shot. Sub keeper Archie Horsman did well to deny Keanu Fleming from adding a goal just after coming off the bench in the 72nd minute, while North preserved his clean sheet by saving well from the clean through Benjamin Kakembo five minutes later.

Five minutes from time Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica came off the Leverstock bench for his first appearance after five months of injury problems. Stefanoaica had four good chances in the remaining minutes but his aim was a little off as none of his efforts were on target. However, his return to action is another promising sign for a Leverstock side that is still two points away from safety with seven games to play.

Leverstock Green (3) 3 (Seale 5,26, Sekyere 33)
1. Ryan North, 2. Nat Connolly (15. Ethan Mooney 84 mins), 3. Ademide Baruwa, 4. Dan Weeks, 5. Gary Connolly, 6. Ryan Carruthers (12. Antonio Edubatey 89 mins), 7. Luke Beckwith (14. Keanu Fleming 72 mins), 8. Dan Pett, 9. Jeffrey Sekyere, 10. Kyle Connolly (17. Marcus Warren 78 mins), 11. Rawn Seale (16. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica 85 mins)
Kings Langley (0) 0
1. Adi Connolly, 2. James Towell, 3. Ridwan Euba (15. Archie Horsman), 4. Ben Casey, 5. Ekow Coker, 6. Jethro Hanson (12. Ben Stallard), 7. Bradley Smith, 8. Henry Dudley, 9. Edu Toiny-Pendred, 10. Darnell-Joe Luke, 11. Declan Phillips (14. Benjamin Kakembo H/T). Subs not used: 16. George Cain, 17. Rhys Farquharson-Leigh.

Leverstock Green were unable to follow up Saturday’s win at Enfield as they fell to a narrow home defeat to Hadley in a frustrating game of few chances.

Leverstock made a good start to the game and had some early chances, but neither Luke Beckwith nor Rawn Seale could get their efforts from close range on target in the opening two minutes of the game. In the 10th minute Jeffrey Sekyere had a run at goal and was brought down just outside the box. Kyle Connolly’s free kick brought a good save out of the Hadley keeper, and Beckwith’s effort from the rebound went across goal.

Solomon Sambou had Hadley’s first chance of the game in the 20th minute, but his shot went across goal and wide. Four minutes later Sekyere hit a fierce shot from the edge of the box which went just wide. Five minutes before the break Ryan North made a good save at his far post to keep the scores level at the break.

The second half saw fewer chances than the first. Early in the half Hadley had a free kick in a dangerous position just outside the box, but Finley Aldridge’s shot was comfortably saved by North. The deadlock was eventuall broken in the 72nd minute. Leverstock were unable to clear the ball out of their box following a corner, and former Leverstock player Richard Ennin pounced to shoot home from six yards just five minutes after coming off the bench.

Leverstock rarely looked like getting back into the game, as the Hadley defence kept their front line in check, with Sekyere unable to make the same kind of impact he had made on Saturday.

With Northwood also losing tonight, Leverstock remain two points from safety with eight games left to play.

Leverstock Green (0) 0
1. Ryan North, 2. Callum Neal, 3. Rio Beach (16. Keanu Fleming 90+2 mins), 4. Josh Dooley, 5. Gary Connolly, 6. Kyle Connolly (14. Ryan Carruthers 66 mins), 7. Luke Beckwith (12. Ademide Baruwa 84 mins), 8. Dan Pett, 9. Jeffrey Sekyere, 10. Marcus Warren (15. Nat Connolly 58 mins), 11. Rawn Seale. Sub not used: 17. Lucas Georgiou.
Hadley (0) 1 (Ennin 72)
1. Charles Taylor, 2. Harvey Steele, 12. Luke Massingham, 4. Solomon Sambou (18. Billy Hayes 67 mins), 5. Hedley Ogbebor, 6. Bobby Webb, 7. Finley Aldridge (14. Richard Ennin 67 mins), 8. Cameron Ferguson, 9. Jordan Edwards, 10. Caoilan McGettigan, 11. Max Jessop. Subs not used: 16. George Alfieri, 17. Josip Jevdjic, 3. Hermes Gbio.