It was a closely-fought game against fourth-placed Newport Pagnell Town, but Leverstock Green’s lack of goals came back to haunt them again as they were beaten by a single first half goal in Saturday’s SSML Premier Division fixture, with the windy conditions certainly not helping.

The visitors had some early chances, with a pass from Jake Stronge putting Jim Burnside through on goal in the 4th minute, but Matt Fallon came off his line to make a great save. Three minutes later Fallon was in action again, tipping a free kick from Stronge over the bar, and again in the 27th minute, turning the ball round the post as Josh Crawley tried to curl in a free kick at the near post.

On the half-hour a cross from Dan Weeks was awkwardly punched away by Newport keeper Nick Bennion, and seconds later another cross from Weeks found Frankie Jowle in front of goal, but he couldn’t divert the ball on target.

The only goal of the game came in the 33rd minute, and it was a well-worked goal as several one-touch passes were flashed around the Leverstock penalty area before Crawley curled a shot in at the far post. There was a suspicion of offside about the goal, but it was allowed to stand.

In the last minute of the half, Fallon saved a free header from a corner, and at the other end a shot from Ryan O’Sullivan went just over the bar.

The second half saw a lot fewer chances than the first half, with the visitors creating little, largely due to an excellent display from the Green defence. Young centre-backs Jamie Ovington and Ethan Flanagan kept prolific striker Burnside mostly quiet. At the other end, Leverstock were still unable to force a save out of Bennion. The wind was a particular problem this half for the Green side, with many passes and crosses either flying over their target or not reaching it.

Both sides had spells of being reduced to ten men, with Crawley being sin-binned from the 48th to the 58th minute, and Ollie Cox also being sent to the sin-bin only eight minutes after coming on as a substitute. Shortly after Cox returned to the game he hit Leverstock’s best effort of the game, a shot from distance which went just wide. Despite plenty of possession, Leverstock couldn’t find the goal to rescue a point.

 

It was a bad day at the office for Leverstock Green, who were outplayed by a Baldock Town side that has been climbing the table steadily over the last couple of months after a poor start to the season.

Baldock’s opening goal came in the 11th minute, and it had an element of fortune about it. Goalscorer Charlie Thake was hit in the face by a cross-cum-shot on the edge of the six-yard box, and despite knowing little about it, the ball deflected out of Matt Fallon’s reach and in off the post.

The visitors continued to be the better side, with Matt Fallon having to save from Charlie Joy in the 22nd minute, and they had a number of other chances to increase their lead before half time. At the other end, a free kick from Ollie Cox was parried away by keeper Adam Harpur on 35 minutes, but no-one could get on the rebound. Three minutes later Frankie Jowle was put through and took the ball past Harpur, but with the angle narrowing, Jowle tried to square to Adiel Mannion, but it was cleared by a defender.

In the opening minute of the second half Dan Weeks got on the end of a corner from Cox, but his header went wide. In the 49th minute Baldock doubled their lead, as Thake successfully sprung the offside trap and ran through to drive a shot past Fallon from the edge of the box. Things got even better for the visitors in the 57th minute as Thake took advantage of more hesitant defending to drill home a shot and complete his hat-trick.

Leverstock improved after a double substitution on the hour, and came close to pulling a goal back on 63 minutes when a decent strike from Jack Stevens brought a great save out of Harpur to tip it over the bar. A Leverstock player finally found the net in the 70th minute, but unfortunately it was Dan Weeks turning a Baldock cross into his own net to put the visitors 4-0 up.

However, the best strike of the day was yet to come, as Adiel Mannion netted a consolation goal in the 72nd minute, his fierce shot from the edge of the box coming down off the underside of the bar and clearly crossing the line before bouncing out.