Leverstock Green FC pulled off a magnificent result on Saturday as they defeated runaway league leaders Real Bedford 2-1 at the Lords Builders Merchant Stadium. The visitors were 22 points ahead of Leverstock at the start of play and had won all but three of their league fixtures, but they came up against a disciplined, hard-working Leverstock side that fully deserved their three points that took them back up to third place in the SSML Premier Division.

Right from the start Leverstock were chasing every ball and pressuring their opponents, allowing them little chance to play their football. Leverstock took the lead in the 13th minute from a corner. Dan Pett’s cross went right into the heart of the six yard box, where Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica connected with a powerful header that brought a great save out of visiting keeper Tyler McGregor. However, Luke Beckwith got his head to the rebound and forced the ball over the line for a 1-0 Leverstock lead.

Three minutes later Bedford had a go with a long-range effort which was well saved by Josh Bowler. However, much of the play was at the other end, where Leverstock’s constant pressure forced an error out of McGregor, who kicked the ball straight to Stefanoaica in the 21st minute, but got away with it as Stefanoaica shot over the bar. Rawn Seale got on the end of another Pett corner in the 25th minute, but his header went wide. Three minutes later Seale pressured a defender into giving the ball away on the edge of his own penalty area. Seale laid the ball off to Beckwith, whose cross was met by Stefanoaica sliding in to put Leverstock Green FC into a 2-0 lead.

The last ten minutes of the half saw a strong recovery from the visitors, as they finally started to put a threat on the Leverstock goal. In the 40th minute Ben Stevens got past a couple of challenges in the box before shooting home to put his side back into the game at 2-1. Over the remainder of the half Bowler had to save a close-range header, and Joey Evans fired a shot inches over the bar as Leverstock were desperately in need of the half time whistle.

The way that Bedford ended the half suggested that it would be a long second half for Leverstock Green FC, but after the break the Green side had recovered their composure and picked where they had left off before Bedford’s revival. Leverstock were once again chasing down their opponents and denying them any space. The visitors were unable to create any meaningful chances until the final minutes as the Leverstock defence held their nerve.

Leverstock could have added a third goal in the 78th minute, but McGregor pulled off a great save to keep out a fierce shot from Ethan Mooney, and denied Ademide Baruwa from the rebound. In the 83rd minute it was the turn of Bowler to pull off two equally impressive saves, firstly turning a header from a free kick round the post, and then tipping a header over the bar from the resulting corner. Seven additional minutes were played at the end, and in the fourth of those minutes an unlucky deflection offered a great chance to a Bedford forward, but Rio Beach came in with a superb game-winning block.

The final whistle eventually came and Leverstock Green FC celebrated a notable win that keeps them very much in the promotion play-off picture.

Leverstock Green (2) 2 (Beckwith 13, Stefanoaica 28)
1. Josh Bowler, 2. Mikey Havill-Tierney, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Dan Weeks, 5. Paul Marks, 6. Ryan Carruthers (12. Ademide Baruwa 56 mins), 7. Luke Beckwith (16. Ethan Mooney 58 mins), 8. Dan Pett, 9. Rawn Seale, 10. Nat Connolly (15. Daniel Green 66 mins), 11. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica (14. Lewis Collins 70 mins). Sub not used: 17. Brad Robinson.
Real Bedford (1) 1 (Stevens 40)
1. Tyler McGregor, 2. Tom Wood, 3. Luke Knight, 4. Lee Watkins, 5. Drew Richardson, 6. Charlie Smith, 7. Josh Setchell (15. Alie Bangura 63 mins), 8. Archie Jones (16. Eddie Corbit 70 mins), 9. Joey Evans, 10. Ben Stevens, 11. Mo Ahmed. Subs not used: 12. Eniola Agemoh-Davies, 14. Tom Hitchcock, 17. Lewis Burgess.

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.