Leverstock Green secured a third season at Step 4 with four games to spare as their three points against MK Irish on Good Friday gave them an unassailable 15 point gap from the drop zone and lifted them up to the dizzy heights of 15th in the Southern League Division One Central table. It was a third straight win for Fergus Moore’s side, all of them by the same score of 2-0.

For the most part this was an end-of-season game with little quality on display, certainly not helped by the difficult windy conditions. Leverstock had their goalkeeper Ashton Broome-Alexander to thank for keeping them in the game as the visitors had the only three efforts on goal of the first half. Broome-Alexander turned a shot from Ryan Smith round the post in the 6th minute, and produced a similar save at the other post in the 27th minute from the same player. In the 40th minute Broome-Alexander pulled off a great save with his legs to keep out a close range shot from Owen Brooks.

The second half proceeded in a similar fashion, with what few chances there were being created by the visitors. In the 58th minute Clinton Zawe headed wide from a corner. In the 72nd minute Kyle Boyce was through on goal, but Broome-Alexander produced another great save with his legs, and recovered to keep out follow-up efforts from Kwai Marsh-Brown and James Meadows.

With Enfield losing their game, the point would have been enough for Leverstock to confirm their safety, but having not had a meaningful effort on goal for the first 83 minutes of the game, they went on to take all three points with a smash and grab. In the 84th minute two substitutes combined as Joe McCarthy crossed from the right to find Jack Allen in the box, but before Allen could do anything with the ball he was brought down. The referee pointed to the penalty spot, and Jeffrey Sekyere stepped up to net his 25th goal of the season from the spot kick.

Better was to come in the first minute of stoppage time. Kombe Kawimbe played a long ball from his own half which should have been intercepted on the edge of the box, but the defender slipped to leave Allen through on goal, and he slotted the ball under keeper Tom Ladyman to score the crucial second goal for the third game in a row.

Leverstock have four games remaining, with the next one being a visit to AFC Dunstable on Easter Monday, and will now be looking to see just how high up the table they can finish.

Leverstock Green (0) 2 (Sekyere 84 pen, Allen 90+1)
1. Ashton Broome-Alexander, 2. Ademide Baruwa, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Kombe Kawimbe, 5. Carmicheal Uchenna, 6. Ryan Carruthers (14. Callum Donnelly 78 mins), 7. Iker Noguera Leon (16. Callum Neal 85 mins), 8. George Mitchell-Gears (12. Nat Connolly 49 mins), 9. Jeffrey Sekyere, 10. Marcus Warren (15. Joe McCarthy 58 mins), 11. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica (18. Jack Allen 65 mins).
Milton Keynes Irish (0) 0
1. Tom Ladyman, 2. Clinton Zawe, 5. Oliver Kalek, 6. Nathan Smith, 8. Ryan Smith, 9. James Meadows (16. Kelvin Osei-Addo 81 mins), 10. Owen Brooks (3. Kyle Boyce 67 mins), 11. George Shrieves (7. Kwai Marsh-Brown 28 mins), 14. Freddy Joyce, 18. Nat Beecher, 20. Mason Spence. Subs not used: 12. Matthew Haworth, 15. Joshua Guthrie.

Leverstock Green moved closer to safety with three more crucial points from Saturday’s Division One Central fixture against Flackwell Heath. The win takes them to 40 points, one more than last season’s final points total with six games remaining.

The visitors made the stronger start to the game, with striker Jack Shakespeare being denied twice early on, firstly by a save from Ashton Broome-Alexander in the 6th minute, and again by a goalline clearance from Olusegun Adedipe in the 13th minute.

However, it was Leverstock that took the lead in the 18th minute from their first real attack of the game. Nat Connolly had the ball in a threatening position 30 yards out and played it wide to Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica, and when Stefanoaica beat his man and crossed from the bye-line, Connolly had continued his run into the six-yard box to meet the cross with a shot that slipped under the body of keeper Henry Upstell. It was only Connolly’s second goal for the club in 122 appearances.

Leverstock had their tails up now and should have had the game put away by half time. In the 28th minute a pass from Carmicheal Uchenna put Iker Noguera Leon through on goal, but Leon’s chip over Upstell went wide of the target. Within a minute a pass from Stefanoaica put Leon in again with an even better chance, and his low shot beat Upstell but again went just wide. In the 35th minute Jeffrey Sekyere went on a solo run into the box which took him clean through against Upstell, but again his shot went wide of the same post.

The lead was still a single goal as the second half started, but Flackwell had a chance to level in the 50th minute when a pass found Shakespeare with space to shoot, but Broome-Alexander pulled off a great save to keep the shot out with his right leg. For much of the second half Leverstock were pinned in their own half, and Flackwell went close again in the 74th minute when a header from Larry Kagwa went just wide.

A second goal was needed, and it finally arrived in the 88th minute. Substitutes Jack Allen and Joe McCarthy were both involved as the ball was cleared upfield. McCarthy and Marcus Warren both tried to carve out shooting chances on the edge of the box, but eventually the ball went to Sekyere, whose shot was parried by Upstell. Allen’s effort from the rebound was also saved, but at the second attempt Allen forced the ball home to ensure that Leverstock would be taking all the points.

Leverstock Green (1) 2 (Connolly 18, Allen 88)
1. Ashton Broome-Alexander, 2. Kombe Kawimbe, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Dan Pett, 20. Olusegun Adedipe (15. George Mitchell-Gears 56 mins), 6. Ryan Carruthers, 7. Iker Noguera Leon (18. Jack Allen 78 mins), 8. Carmicheal Uchenna, 9. Jeffrey Sekyere (12. Callum Donnelly 89 mins), 10. Nat Connolly (16. Marcus Warren 70 mins), 11. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica (14. Joe McCarthy 66 mins).
Flackwell Heath (0) 0
1. Henry Upstell, 2. Ryan Avery (16. Neilon Pascall 66 mins), 3. Lewis Patrick, 4.Harry Mepham, 5. Sean McGuinness, 6. Lewis Pegg (14. Matt Roberts 64 mins), 7. Jamie Ayres (17. Josh Sapwell 82 mins), 8. Ben Stallard, 9. Lindell Stewart (15. Larry Kagwa 59 mins), 10. Jack Shakespeare, 11. Eli Grant (12. Bruce Nsang 55 mins).

Leverstock Green could have put themselves 12 points clear of the relegation zone with a win tonight, but they had to settle for a draw against Enfield, which maintains their nine-point gap above the drop zone. It wasn’t a great performance by the Leverstock side, but a point was a reasonable return in a nervy game of high stakes.

It was a bright start for the Green side, with Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica twice getting in behind his defender early on, the second time running on into the box to bring a good save out of visiting keeper George Edgeworth in the 7th minute. However, Leverstock found themselves a goal down in the 16th minute with a rare mistake from keeper Ashton Broome-Alexander, allowing a soft effort from Bradley McClenaghan into the net.

For the next 20 minutes the Leverstock side were struggling to put anything together and didn’t look like getting back into the game. However, in the 39th minute there was more good work from Stefanoaica, who got in behind the defence again and crossed into the six-yard box, where Marcus Warren was on hand to finish from close range for the equaliser.

The goal lifted the Green side, and they might have gone in front before the break. In the 43rd minute Dan Pett’s header from a free kick was deflected wide, and in the goalmouth scramble from the ensuing corner, Stefanoaica had an effort turned round the post by Edgeworth.

The second half was a somewhat scrappy affair with neither side creating much in the way of clear-cut chances. Enfield were unlucky when Kieran Southgate hit the bar with a curling shot in the 82nd minute, but Leverstock should have won the game in stoppage time. A through pass put substitute Iker Noguera Leon through on goal, and Leon took the ball past Edgeworth, but then hit his shot into the side netting.

Leverstock Green (1) 1 (Warren 39)
1. Ashton Broome-Alexander, 2. Kombe Kawimbe, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Dan Pett, 20. Olusegun Adedipe (14. Dan Casey 76 mins), 6. Ademide Baruwa, 7. Joe McCarthy, 8. Carmicheal Uchenna (12. Ryan Carruthers 33 mins), 9. Jeffrey Sekyere, 10. Marcus Warren, 11. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica (16. Iker Noguera Leon 78 mins). Subs not used: 15. Callum Donnelly, 18. Jack Allen.
Enfield (1) 1 (McClenaghan 16)
1. George David Edgeworth, 2. Aundre Wholas-Spencer (15. Tajuddin Bello 67 mins), 3. Charlie Anderson, 4. Sam Coombes, 5. Matthew Hurley, 6. Toib Adeyemi, 7. Joni Vukaj, 8. Nathan Brathwaite (18. Izuchuckwu Okafor 73 mins), 12. George Sykes (11. Kieran Southgate 80 mins), 14. Samir Ali (10. Joe Gregory 69 mins), 20. Bradley McClenaghan (16. Freddy Moncur 66 mins).