Leverstock Green were unable to follow up Saturday’s win at Harpenden as they crashed to a home defeat against Crawley Green on Tuesday night. After a tight first half the visitors took control in the second half with some clinical finishing as Leverstock were caught on the break too many times.

There was a chance for Leverstock in the 5th minute as skipper Dan Weeks got on the end of a free kick from Ibrahim Nagheeb, but his header went over the bar. Crawley’s first near-miss came in the 18th minute when an overhead kick from Brandon Carney struck the post.

Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica looked like Leverstock’s most dangerous player, and in the 22nd minute he made a strong run into the box and pulled the ball back into the six-yard box but it was cleared. Six minutes later the action was at the other end as Austin Byfield dived low to turn away a shot from Joe Hankins. In the 33rd minute Elginey Daalberg went on a solo run from the halfway line to the edge of the penalty area but then hit his shot over the bar. Leverstock’s best chance of the half was in the 39th minute when a great pass from Dan Weeks put Stefanoaica in behind the defence, but after running across the face of the six-yard box, he hit his eventual shot wide. In the last minute of the half Dan Pett got on the end of a cross and turned quickly but his shot was saved.

The teams went in at half time with the game still goalless, but the second half was barely a minute old when Crawley Green took the lead. Leverstock were caught on the break from their own attack, and the ball was threaded through to Hankins, whose shot found the net despite Byfield getting a hand to it.

There was almost a second in the 53rd minute as Hankins slid in to meet a cross from Carney but it went just wide, and Carney hit the woodwork for a second time in the 57th minute as his free kick from distance hit the post. The second Crawley goal came in the 61st minute and again it was careless from Leverstock as they were caught by a quick breakaway from their own corner and Hankins was put through again to slot the ball past Byfield.

There was a let-off for Leverstock in the 70th minute when Carney was clean through and looked set to score but shot straight at Byfield. However, Leverstock couldn’t take advantage, and squandered two corners when the cross couldn’t beat the first man. On 76 minutes Leverstock had a promising attack which broke down on the halfway line, and again they were punished as the ball was quickly played out to the right and seconds later a cross came in which Carney finished from close range for the third Crawley Green goal.

Leverstock had continued to push forward throughout the half, but were unable to force visiting keeper Dan Gould into a serious save and could not force the ball home from a couple of goalmouth scrambles. Eventually in the 87th minute Chris Blunden pulled a goal back with a shot from the edge of the box, but that proved to be nothing more than consolation as Crawley Green came away with a deserved three points.

Leverstock Green (0) 1 (Blunden 87)
1. Austin Byfield, 2. Brad Robinson (12. Luke Beckwith 63 mins), 3. Kurainashe Musanhi, 4. Dan Weeks, 18. Luke Durnin, 6. Ryan Carruthers (14. Chris Blunden 54 mins), 7. Ethan Mooney, 8. Dan Pett, 9. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica, 10. Ibrahim Nagheeb, 11. Elgeniy Daalberg (20. Scott McGleish 79 mins). Subs not used: 15. Callum Moore, 16. Ayomide Oke.
Crawley Green (0) 3 (Hankins 47, 61, Carney 76)
1. Dan Gould, 2. Nicolae Trif (14. Parrys Smith 84 mins), 3. Luke Abraham, 4. Kai McArthur, 5. Garry Jones, 6. Mike Evans, 7. Brandy Makuendi (12. Tejon Brown 74 mins), 8. Ernest Njoroge (16. Jacob Troughton-Smith 87 mins), 9. Joe Hankins, 10. Brandon Carney (15. Ayomide Akinbobola 80 mins), 11. Lucas Kirkpatrick. Sub not used: 17. Daniel Blackman.

Leverstock Green have suffered only two home defeats this season, and both of them have been to Colney Heath. With the visitors having had a managerial change between the two games, there were only a few players in common between the Colney side that won the Premier Division Cup tie in October, and the side that inflicted Leverstock’s first home league defeat of the season in this game. A week ago against Tring Athletic it was the performance of Leverstock keeper Austin Byfield that won the point, but this time the boot was on the other foot as visiting keeper Liam Studley kept out the Green side with a number of superb saves.

There were few chances in the early part of the game, and Leverstock’s bad luck with centre-backs continued as Alvin Kyeremeh had to be helped off the pitch with an injury in the 19th minute, to be replaced by Bobby Armstrong. Colney Heath had the better of the opening ten minutes, but Leverstock were on top towards the end of the half. They were denied a goal in the last minute of the half by the first of Studley’s great saves. George Mitchell-Gears got on the end of an Ibrahim Nagheeb free kick with a downward header, which Studley got down to save at the base of his post.

Leverstock made a bright start to the second half, but they were forced into another change on 51 minutes when Elgeniy Daalberg replaced Mitchell-Gears. Controversially, the referee restarted play the instant that Daalberg had entered the pitch rather than allowing him to take up his position, and Colney Heath took advantage as a ball was played 60 yards forward to Alex Cathline, who made a powerful run at goal and struck a shot from outside the box which beat Byfield and put his side into a 1-0 lead.

Brad Robinson was sin-binned as a result of protests about the goal, reducing Leverstock to ten men for ten minutes. Once they were back up to eleven the Green side had a number of chances, including a cross from Rio Beach which went just over the angle on 66 minutes and a header from Armstrong which went just over the bar two minutes later. On 76 minutes Ibrahim Nagheeb was fouled just outside the box and stepped up to take the free kick himself. His effort was on target but tipped over the bar by a great save from Studley. A minute later Ryan Carruthers had an effort cleared off the line.

On 79 minutes Leverstock were again reduced to ten men, this time permanently as Luke Beckwith received a second yellow card. There was another free kick in a dangerous position on 84 minutes as Chris Blunden was brought down just outside the box. Blunden took the free kick and again it was on target but Studley dived full length to turn it round the post. Colney Heath were then reduced to ten men as George Taban was sin-binned.

Leverstock continued to push forward as the game threatened to boil over in the closing minutes, and they were perhaps denied a couple more chances as the referee blew for full time after less than two minutes stoppage time, in a half that saw seven substitions and a couple of injury stoppages among others. However, it was a second straight game without a goal, and Fergus Moore’s side will need to find their scoring touch again quickly when they travel to Cockfosters for their next game on Saturday.

Leverstock Green (0) 0
1. Austin Byfield, 2. Brad Robinson (15. Adrian Pitfield 64 mins), 3. Rio Beach, 4. Danny May (20. Scott McGleish 70 mins), 5. Alvin Kyeremeh (18. Bobby Armstrong 19 mins), 6. Ryan Carruthers, 7. Luke Beckwith, 8. Ibrahim Nagheeb, 9. Chris Blunden, 10. George Mitchell-Gears (12. Elgeniy Daalberg 51 mins), 11. Ethan Mooney. Sub not used: 14. Ayomide Oke.
Colney Heath (0) 1 (Cathline 52 mins)
1. Liam Studley, 2. George Taban, 3. Bradley Dixon-Smith, 4. Marco Geremia, 5. Shim Eaton-Bonnick, 6. Myles John (17. Taran Rattrey 68 mins), 7. Jayden Silcott-Brown, 8. Vass Mandeville, 9. Alex Cathline (14. Kamel El-Maghur 60 mins), 10. Serge Erkarslan (16. Alex Dubniuc 60 mins), 11. Hadley Gleeson (15. James Samways 80 mins). Sub not used: 12. Clarence Emeh.

It was a third league win in a row for Leverstock Green as they overcame a strong Harpenden Town side in Saturday’s game at the Lords Builders Merchants Stadium. Suspension, illness and injuries meant that it was a somewhat different looking side to last week’s. Goalkeeper Tautvydas Poniskaitis was drafted in to cover for the suspended Austin Byfield, and defenders George Alfieri and Joshua Yoane were brought in on loan from Hadley to play in defence, where Brad Robinson, Adrian Pitfield and Alvin Kyeremeh were all out injured. Skipper Dan Pett was also absent through illness. All three of the newcomers gave excellent performances.

Both sides were playing some good football in the early stages, but without much end product. Chris Blunden brought a good save out of visiting keeper Alex Desmond in the 11th minute, but had already been flagged offside. George Mitchell-Gears had an effort from the edge of the box in the 20th minute which went just over the bar.

In the 42nd minute a pass from Alfieri put Ethan Mooney through on goal. Mooney squared for Blunden, but his shot was saved and he was flagged offside again. However, in the 44th minute a big header from Ryan Carruthers gave Blunden a run at goal. Blunden couldn’t get his shot away, but held onto the ball until support arrived, and squared into the six-yard box where Mitchell-Gears was there to stab home the opening goal.

Having scored just before half time, Leverstock added their second just after half time. A foul on Mitchell-Gears gave Leverstock a free kick in a dangerous position 25 yards out, and just as he did last week, Ibrahim Nagheeb produced a superb strike into the corner of the net. It was also a third goal in successive games for Nagheeb.

However, just over a minute later Harpenden were back in the game. A cross from the left was palmed away by Poniskaitis, but the ball fell for Josh Setchell, who drove home a shot to pull the score back to 2-1.

For the remainder of the game it was end-to-end stuff. The nearest that Leverstock came to extending their lead was in the 76th minute when Bobby Armstrong’s header from a corner was well saved by Desmond. Harpenden had a couple of good chances from headers in the 77th and 80th minutes but both efforts were off-target. A cross from Rio Beach in the 86th minute set up a shooting chance for Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica, but his well-hit effort was blocked. A minute later Harpenden had the ball flashing across the face of the Leverstock goal but with no-one on the end of it.

Leverstock used every tactic during stoppage time to run more seconds off the clock, and unlike recent games where they have surrendered a single-goal lead late on, this time they closed the game out for a crucial three points which takes them up to 5th in the Premier Division table.

Leverstock Green (1) 2 (Mitchell-Gears 44, Nagheeb 48)
1. Tautvydas Poniskaitis, 2. George Alfieri, 3. Rio Beach, 18. Bobby Armstrong, 5. Joshua Yoane, 6. Ryan Carruthers, 7. Radu-Mihair Stefanoaica, 8. Ibrahim Nagheeb, 9. Chris Blunden (12. Elgeniy Daalberg 90 mins), 10. George Mitchell-Gears, 11. Ethan Mooney. Subs not used: 14. Freddie Newing, 15. Ayomide Oke, 16. Sean Walsh, 20. Scott McGleish.
Harpenden Town (0) 1 (Setchell 49)
1. Alex Desmond, 2. Andrew Simmons, 3. Jake Collins (17. Isaiah Hilaire 79 mins), 4. Ryan Plowright, 5. Josh Rodrigues, 6. Mickey Shuttlewood, 7. Josh Setchell, 8. Lewis Croucher (16. Joe Devaney 62 mins), 9. Jake Anthony, 10. Nathan McGreevy (12. Billy Owen 75 mins), 11. James Younger (15. Michael Gabblah 62 mins). Sub not used: 14. Bobby London.