Leverstock Green returned to league action after lockdown, and did so in magnificent style, ending the unbeaten league record of local rivals Colney Heath despite having to play for 85 minutes with ten men. It was a genuinely deserved result for a battling team performance on a pitch which was left quite heavy after the rain during the week.

The game was in just its fifth minute when Leverstock were reduced to ten men. Luke Peerless reacted to a challenge from Jay Lovell with hands to the face, and although there was little contact, it was in full view of the linesman, and the referee had little alternative but to show a straight red card.

The visitors had the chance to take the lead in the 8th minute in a goalmouth scramble following a corner, but James Hall cleared off the line. Leverstock’s first effort on target came in the 17th minute as Adiel Mannion hit a shot from a narrow angle which former Green keeper Matt Evans turned round the post. Two minutes later Evans was in action again, turning a long-range free kick from Jamie Ovington round the post.

However, it was Colney Heath who took the lead in the 29th minute, as Harry Shepherd got to the bye-line and sent over a cross which found Heath skipper Jack Woods to head home the opening goal.

Leverstock were not disheartened by the goal, though, and hit back four minutes later when Frank Jowle curled a cross from the edge of the box towards the far post where Kian Wilkes slid in to net the equaliser from close range.

The visitors could have gone back in front on 38 minutes when Shepherd was clean through on goal, but pulled his shot wide of the post. Instead it was Leverstock who got their noses in front on 41 minutes. Hall delivered a great cross into the box which Jowle headed towards goal, and Ovington applied the finishing touch into the net as the ten men of Leverstock went into the break with a 2-1 lead.

There was still much work to do in the second half as Colney attacked down the slope. Four minutes in Matt Fallon had to make a great save to keep out a header from Marcus Mealing. However, on the hour mark Mealing got on the end of another cross from the right and this time headed home the equaliser. Ovington almost put the Green back in front five minutes later with an acrobatic overhead kick, but Evans saved. On 70 minutes John Smith got a yellow card for a challenge on Mealing just outside the box, and Mealing’s attempt from the resulting free kick took a deflection off the wall and went just wide.

Leverstock brought on two new young signings in Isiah Noel-Williams and Michael Gabblah, and Lewis Collins was also introduced in the 72nd minute. Five minutes later Leverstock broke away and Collins received the ball on the halfway line before pushing forward and passing to Jowle. A slip by a defender left Jowle clean through, and he showed his experience with a composed finish, slipping the ball under Evans to put Leverstock back in front at 3-2.

The ten men continued to hold steady at the back over the closing minutes, with Mickey Shuttlewood being particularly impressive against his former club, as the visitors put on the pressure, and after five minutes of stoppage time the final whistle put the seal on a tremendous result for Matt Harding’s side.

Leverstock Green (2) 3  (Wilkes 33, Ovington 41, Jowle 77)
Team: 1. Matt Fallon, 2. Brima Johnson, 3. Dan Weeks, 4. Kian Wilkes, 5. Mickey Shuttlewood, 6. Jamie Ovington, 7. James Hall (14. Isiah Noel-Williams 68 mins), 8. Frank Jowle, 9. Luke Peerless, 10. John Smith (12. Michael Gabblah 81 mins), 11. Adiel Mannion (15. Lewis Collins 72 mins). Subs not used: 16. Cass Grant, 17. Tom Littleboy.

Colney Heath (1) 2  (Woods 29, Mealing 60)
Team: 1. Matt Evans, 2. Max Jessop, 3. Dan Clifton, 4. Jay Lovell (12. George Devine 56 mins), 5. Martin Standen, 6. Sam Doolan, 7. Chris Griffin, 8. Aaron Jewell (14. Spencer Clarke-Mardel 56 mins), 9. Jack Woods, 10. Marcus Mealing, 11. Harry Shepherd (16. Hadley Gleeson 80 mins). Subs not used: 15. Bailey Stevenson, 17. Harry Lewis.

In the last game before the forthcoming lockdown brings an end to non-elite football for at least four weeks, Leverstock Green rediscovered their scoring boots to record an emphatic win over Wembley. After three games without a goal, Leverstock found the net six times in this game, and enter lockdown in 12th place in the SSML Premier Division table and with a positive goal difference.

Luke Peerless had a free kick well-saved by the visiting keeper in the 4th minute, but in the 23rd minute Frank Jowle opened the scoring directly from a corner. Mickey Shuttlewood went close to a second goal on 31 minutes, but after Matt Fallon stopped a couple of efforts, Wembley scored an equaliser in the 37th minute. However, Luke Peerless headed Leverstock back into the lead two minutes before the break with a near-post header from Brima Johnson’s long throw.

Dan Weeks went close to adding another in the 48th minute, but his header hit the bar. The third goal eventually arrived in the 56th minute as Jamie Calvin scored his first goal for the club in his third appearance, slotting home from Jowle’s cross.

Not long afterwards the game was stopped for 10 minutes due to an injury to one of the linesmen, but after a suitable replacement was found the game continued. Calvin added his second goal in the 80th minute, netting the rebound after Adiel Mannion’s shot was saved, to put Leverstock firmly in control at 4-1 up. Johnson made his second assist of the night, crossing for Jowle to make it 5-1 with his second goal of the night in the 89th minute, and the sixth was added deep into stoppage time by Lewis Collins, making his first appearance of his second spell at the club and scoring his first ever senior goal, with Peerless setting him up for a finish from close range.

Team: 1. Matt Fallon, 2. Brima Johnson, 3. Dan Weeks, 4. Jamie Ovington, 14. Mickey Shuttlewood, 6. Steve Hawes (12. Kian Wilkes 90+4 mins), 7. John Smith (17. James Hall 87 mins), 8. Luke Peerless, 16. Jamie Calvin, 10. Adiel Mannion, 11. Frank Jowle (15. Lewis Collins 90+2 mins). Subs not used: 5. Ollie Cox, 9. Connor Church.