A late header from Adiel Mannion brought Leverstock Green another three points as they came from behind to beat North Greenford United 2-1 on a very wet and sticky Pancake Lane pitch in Saturday’s SSML Premier Division game.

The pitch was already soft after a game on it on Thursday, and further rain during the morning and during most of the game itself made for a very difficult surface for both teams.

Leverstock were missing Chris Gosling and Cass Grant, who were both starting two-game suspensions after their red cards last week, plus Alex Ward through illness and Jack Stevens, who was added to the injury list last week. Worse was to follow during the pre-game warm-up when keeper Matt Fallon had to pull out through injury. With no other keeper available, top scorer Frankie Jowle took over the gloves and gave an excellent display between the sticks.

The visitors are bottom of the league without a win so far, but they battled well throughout the game. After a chance for Leverstock in the opening minute when Mannion shot over the bar, it was North Greenford who had the better of the game for a while. Jowle had to pull off a save from a free kick in the 4th minute, and they had a few efforts at goal which were off-target.

Leverstock went close in the 15th minute when Jamie Ovington played a long ball forward which visiting keeper Sam House could only punch away. The ball went as far as John Smith, who shot over the bar as House was scrambling back towards his goal. North Greenford were still looking dangerous when coming forward, and it certainly wasn’t against the run of play when they took the lead in the 23rd minute. Conor Molyneaux found space in the Green box and eventually drilled the ball past Jowle from a narrow angle for an impressive finish.

Leverstock stepped up their efforts, with Kai Stonnell curling a shot just wide on 28 minutes. Two minutes later a pass from Zak Howells gave Louie Griffiths a run at goal. Griffiths put over a cross which found Mannion at the far post, but he couldn’t divert his header on target. However, in the 31st minute Stonnell launched a long throw into the Greenford box which was not cleared, and in the ensuing scramble Griffiths hit an effort which went in off the underside of the bar for the equaliser.

The Green side should have gone in front in the 35th minute. Mannion’s pass put Griffiths through to put a ball across the face of goal that somehow eluded Conor Blake at the far post. Seconds later a shot from Mannion was deflected over the bar by a defender’s boot.

The rain continued to make the pitch even stickier in the second half. There was an early chance in the 48th minute when a pass from Howells found Griffiths, who turned and shot across the face of goal and just wide. Dogged defending by the visitors prevented much in the way of clear chances for most of the half. The best chance came in the 76th minute when Leverstock were awarded a free kick in a dangerous position just outside the box, but John Smith’s effort went over the bar.

There were a couple of late goalmouth scrambles in which Greenford somehow kept the ball out, but it looked as though Leverstock were going to have to settle for the draw against stubborn opponents. However, in the 88th minute Howells delivered a superb angled cross into the box from midway into the visitors’ half, and Mannion got on the end of it to nod the ball past House into the corner of the net for a dramatic late winner.

It was tough on North Greenford, whose battling display would have deserved a point, but Leverstock overcame their own adversity with a top performance from everyone, especially Jowle in goal.

After four straight wins in all competitions, Leverstock Green were brought back down to earth by a Colney Heath side that have been largely unstoppable this season. The 3-0 home defeat was exacerbated by two late red cards which meant that Leverstock finished the game with nine men.

Matt Harding had another new signing in his squad with the return to the club of highly-rated midfielder Chris Gosling, but his plans to start Gosling were foiled when car problems meant that the player wouldn’t arrive in time.

The early stages of the game were evenly-contested, without much in the way of chances. The first near miss was in the 10th minute when Matt Fallon did well to keep out a stinging shot from a narrow angle from prolific striker Jon Clements. A minute later at the other end Kai Stonnell hit a shot just wide. The visitors went close again in the 16th minute when Yasin Boodhoo headed over from George Devine’s cross, however two minutes later they went in front when Clements broke away with the ball and hit a shot into the top corner of Fallon’s net.

Stonnell went close again in the 36th minute when he got on the end of a cross from Alex Ward but headed wide. However, it was Fallon that was the much busier keeper, doing well to save another shot from Clements in first half stoppage time.

Four minutes into the second half Adiel Mannion went close with a cross-cum-shot from a narrow angle that went into the side netting, but in the 52nd minute Colney Heath took control with a second goal. Clements was chasing a long ball with a defender for company, but Fallon came out of his area to try to clear. Fallon got to the ball first, but his clearance was blocked by Clements, who ran on with the ball and slotted into the empty net.

Shortly afterwards Gosling came off the bench, followed by Cass Grant, returning from a three-game suspension, and Luis Brooker, returning after six weeks out with a hamstring injury. However, the substitutions did not change the course of the game, with Colney Heath being very much on top. Fallon produced a great save to turn a long-range shot from Dan Fitzgerald round the post in the 66th minute, but Devine added a third goal with a great strike in the 82nd minute.

The closing minutes of the game proved very costly for the Green side. Grant had been booked not long after coming off the bench, and in the 90th minute he had an altercation with the Colney Heath goalkeeper which resulted in him getting a second yellow card and a red one on his return from suspension. Worse was to follow in stoppage time as Gosling was shown a straight red for words said to the referee, which seemed a very harsh decision.

The nine men saw out the rest of the game with no further damage from a Colney Heath side that is certain to be one of the leading title contenders this season.