(H) Welwyn Garden City

The Under-18s drew 1-1 with Welwyn Garden City in Thursday night’s SCFYL Delphian Division game, with a second half equaliser from George Eldridge securing a point.

Thomas Morrell
Freddie Turner
Alfie Hart
Archie Baker
Shae Robinson
Luca Crofts
Charlie Bradshaw
Neo Mitchell
Kuba Tinriover
Joe Sadler
George Eldridge ⚽

Lewis Evans 🟢
Taylor Wilkinson-Ousby 🟢

vs

(H) Hinton

It was a second straight league defeat for Leverstock Green Reserves, as they were beaten 5-3 at home by Hinton on Tuesday night. Callum Neal, Charlie Clarke and Michael Antonio scored the goals.

Harry Maloret
Kaashan Darr
Rodger Siluba
Alfie Herd
Callum Neal ⚽
Freddie Newing
Antonio Edubatey
Joe Dalli
Charlie Clarke ⚽
Callum Moore
Michael Antonio ⚽🟨

Bobby O’Flynn
Aryan Bashashdoust 🟢 (for Siluba)
Ronnie Brennan 🟢 (for Dalli)
Zak Mishcon
Richard van Crugten 🟢 (for Edubatey)

vs

(H) Biggleswade FC

Leverstock Green were within sight of another precious win, but again they were unable to hold onto the lead they had held for much of the game against Biggleswade F.C., having to settle for their tenth draw of the season in the Southern League Division One Central.

There were a number of changes from the midweek defeat at Kings Langley, with starts in the back four for youngsters Lucas Georgiou and Oliwier Fusiek, and Ryan North playing his second game of the season in place of the injured Reuben Rabstein. After a quiet start to the game, Leverstock went close in the 22nd minute when Georgiou delivered a great cross which found the head of Guiseppe Delgaudio, but his glancing touch wasn’t enough to divert the ball inside the post.

Five minutes later a superb pass from Dan Pett allowed Luke Beckwith to run through the middle of the Biggleswade defence, and go clean through. Visiting keeper Jasper Briggs slipped as Beckwith approached, allowing Beckwith to go round him and slot into the empty net to put Leverstock into a 1-0 lead.

The visitors had a chance to equalise in the 38th minute with Luke Oswick having a clear shooting chance, but North did very well to keep out Oswick’s shot with his legs and Leverstock held their slender lead until the break.

Leverstock had a chance to extend their lead in the 50th minute when a pass from Pett gave Ademide Baruwa a run at goal, but Baruwa’s attempted square ball to Delgaudio was cut out by a defender. Three minutes later there was a golden opportunity for Biggleswade to equalise when Fusiek was adjudged to have brought down an opponent inside the box and a penalty was awarded. Dan Bond stepped up to take it, but it wasn’t the best penalty and North pulled off the save to keep Leverstock in front.

North saved again in the 61st minute, turning a header from Lawrie Marsh round the post. The pressure from the visitors was building up, though, and in the 78th minute Biggleswade won two corners in quick succession. From the second of those Dan Carey-Evans got up highest to head the ball past North for the equaliser.

The best chance Leverstock had to go back in front came in the 84th minute when Rawn Seale set up a clear shooting opportunity for Kyle Connolly, but his effort went wide. The win wasn’t to be, but Leverstock held out to claim another point.

Leverstock Green (1) 1 (Beckwith 27)
1. Ryan North, 2. Callum Neal, 3. Lucas Georgiou (15. Marcus Warren 85 mins), 4. Oliwier Fusiek (16. Dan Weeks 89 mins), 5. Gary Connolly, 6. Ryan Carruthers, 7. Kyle Connolly, 8. Dan Pett, 9. Guiseppe Delgaudio (12. Lewis Collins 70 mins), 10. Luke Beckwith (14. Rawn Seale 70 mins), 11. Ademide Baruwa. Sub not used: 18. Scott McGleish.
Biggleswade F.C. (0) 1 (Carey-Evans 78)
1. Jasper Briggs, 2. Adam Hunt, 3. Luke Oswick, 4. Dan Carey-Evans, 5. Adam Wedd, 6. Charlie Hayford, 7. Lawrie Marsh, 8. Rio Martucci, 9. Dan Bond, 10. Lee Northfield (16. Alex Penn 89 mins), 11. Temi Akinbusoye. Subs not used: 12. Ethan Kessel, 14. Laim Chadwick, 15. Michael Simpson, 17. Prince Nzinga.

vs

(H) Hertford Town

Leverstock Green are in need of some wins to get themselves out of the relegation zone in the Southern League Division One Central, but they got another hard-earned point in a goalless draw with Hertford Town on Tuesday night.

Leverstock had some near-misses during the first half. In the 13th minute a nicely-worked move set up a chance for Lewis Collins, but his shot from a narrow angle was blocked by visiting keeper James Callan. Two minutes later Zac Hawker hit a shot from the edge of the box which was parried away by Callan. Closer still was a screamer from distance from Guiseppe Delgaudio in the 18th minute which looked from some angles as though it had flown into the top corner but in fact had gone just over the bar and hit the top of the net.

There was another chance in the 36th minute as Delgaudio’s pass put Collins in on goal, but his shot went across the face of goal, as did a cross from Kyle Connolly in the 44th minute that no-one could get on the end of.

Leverstock keeper Reuben Rabstein pulled off the save of the match in the opening minute of the second half, tipping a shot from Adeniyi Gbolahan over the bar. The loss of Rawn Seale to injury robbed Leverstock of one of their attacking threats in the 55th minute.

In the 57th minute Sudayisi Sendege worked a chance inside the Leverstock box but shot across the face of goal. Rabstein had to pull off another couple of saves later in the game, and a great tackle inside his own box from Collins in the 79th minute prevented a Hertford player from running clean through on goal.

Two minutes from time Ademide Baruwa had a shot from distance, but it was saved by Callan, and deep into stoppage time Leverstock thought they had a shout for a penalty when Nat Connolly appeared to be fouled inside the box, but the referee waved away any appeals, even though Connolly was clearly injured and had to limp off the field at the end of the game.

In the end a draw was a fair result, and not an unexpected one as these two sides have drawn more games than any other teams in the division. Leverstock now face a tough visit to top of the league Real Bedford on Saturday.

Leverstock Green 0
1. Reuben Rabstein, 2. Ademide Baruwa, 3. Kyle Connolly, 4. Dan Weeks, 5. Gary Connolly, 6. Zac Hawker (12. Ryan Carruthers 72 mins), 7. Lewis Collins, 8. Dan Pett (17. Marcus Warren 84 mins), 9. Rawn Seale (14. Callum Neal 55 mins), 10. Nat Connolly, 11. Guiseppe Delgaudio. Subs not used: 15. Oliwier Fusiek, 16. Lucas Georgiou.
Hertford Town 0
1. James Callan, 2. Ryan Bernal, 3. Liam Crutchett, 4. Albert McGregor (15. James Doherty 66 mins), 5. Roman Chapps, 6. Ben Herd, 7. Riley Carr (17. Marcus Painter 72 mins), 8. Billy Mardell-Smith, 9. Adeniyi Gbolahan, 10. Archie O’Brien (14. Brian Garzon 83 mins), 11. Sudayisi Sendege. Subs not used: 12. George Devine, 16. Jedediah Brown-Johnson.

 

vs

(H) Stevenage

Leverstock Green progressed to the quarter-finals of the Herts Senior Cup where they will face a trip to neighbours Hemel Hempstead Town for an exciting local derby. They did it with an impressive 4-2 win over a young Stevenage F.C. side in an open game where both sides played some good football.

With both Reuben Rabstein and Liam Gauthier cup-tied, Leverstock had to use their fifth different goalkeeper in five games, giving a debut to Ryan North, signed earlier in the season from Northwood. There was also a debut off the bench for Lucas Georgiou, a former Leverstock EJA player transferred from Biggleswade Town to get more game time, a first appearance of his second spell at the club for Kyle Connolly, recently signed from Bedford Town, and a return from injury of his brother Gary Connolly.

Kyle Connolly tried his luck from a free kick in the 8th minute, but it was gathered by Stevenage keeper Sam Watkiss. In the 13th minute Ademide Baruwa broke away down the right and put over a cross which found Guiseppe Delgaudio, but his shot from close range was saved by Watkiss. The breakthrough for Leverstock came in the 21st minute when a pass from Zenon Stylianides put Lewis Collins through on goal, and Collins took the ball round Watkiss before slotting home the opening goal.

Stevenage were back level six minutes later, with a spectacular effort from Demi Oladiran, scoring with a shot from near the left touchline. However, Leverstock were soon back in front as Marcus Warren set up Collins to score his second with a low shot from inside the penalty area.

In the 36th minute Warren played a great ball down the left touchline to put Collins away, and he added to his two goals with an assist, squaring across goal for Stylianides to shoot home the third Leverstock goal. A minute before the break it was almost four as Delgaudio slipped a shot past Watkiss but it came back off the post.

The second half saw little in the way of chances for either side until the last 15 minutes. Collins had two attempts at completing his hat-trick, putting a free kick and a shot from open play over the bar. In the 77th minute Rawn Seale got on the end of a Kyle Connolly free kick but headed wide. Leverstock looked to be crusing to victory until a bizarre own goal in the 83rd minute put Stevenage back in the game. Having given the ball away in their own penalty area, Leverstock had a chance to clear off the line but two players in each other’s way and the ball ricocheted into the net.

A minute later Seale had a chance to restore the two-goal advantage when he was clean through, but shot wide. However, in the 87th minute Ryan Carruthers chipped a pass into the box which found Seale, and a very composed first time finish made it 4-2 to Leverstock and confirmed their passage into the next round.

Leverstock Green (3) 4 (Collins 21, 29, Stylianides 36, Seale 87)
1. Ryan North, 2. Ademide Baruwa, 3. Kyle Connolly (12. Ryan Carruthers 80 mins), 4. Oliwier Fusiek, 5. Chad King (17. Rawn Seale 61 mins), 6. Zac Hawker (15. Lucas Georgiou 56 mins), 7. Lewis Collins, 8. Nat Connolly, 9. Guiseppe Delgaudio (14. Gary Connolly 63 mins), 10. Marcus Warren (16. Callum Neal 68 mins), 11. Zenon Stylianides.
Stevenage (1) 2 (Oladiran 27, og 83)
1. Sam Watkiss, 2. Zack Howell (17. Archie Dougherty 57 mins), 3. Taye Cadman, 4. Myles Jackson, 5. Charlie Cane, 6. Frankie Impey (14. Jake Robinson 75 mins), 7. Demi Oladiran, 8. Tanil Sauk (12. Fenton Williams H/T), 9. Max Holland (19. Makise Evans H/T), 10. Kieran Godman, 11. Eniola Aminasahun. Sub not used: 12. Ashley Clare.

vs

(H) OIR FC

vs

(H) Aylesbury United

Leverstock Green slipped deeper into relegation trouble with a third straight defeat without scoring. With all of their top goalscorers currently out through injury, the Leverstock side is struggling to create a goal threat, and while they were in this game well into the second half, visitors Aylesbury United scored three goals in the last 20 minutes to clinch the points.

Aylesbury’s Luqman Kassim went closest to opening the scoring in the 20th minute with a shot that went across the face of goal. At the other end in the 31st minute Jamie Breen made a great run to the bye-line and put the ball across, but Ademide Baruwa’s shot was blocked wide. Rawn Seale headed wide from a Dan Pett cross in the 34th minute, and Seale went on a promising mazy run into the box a minute before the break, but his eventual shot was blocked.

Aylesbury were denied the opening goal in the second minute of the second half with a header from a corner being cleared off the line. Leverstock had their best effort of the game in the 51st minute as a shot from Keanu Fleming was turned round the post by keeper Jack Hopwood. In the 68th minute there was another chance as a cross from Fleming found Seale at the far post, but his header was straight at Hopwood.

The scoring was eventually opened in the 71st minute. An Aylesbury corner was not cleared, and Jack Wood hit a fierce shot through a crowd of players that took a deflection and flew into the net. Three minutes later the lead was doubled as Kajetan Halatyn was all alone to finish from close range.

Kassim added the third goal in the 87th minute, drilling home a shot from a narrow angle. A great save from Leverstock keeper Liam Gauthier prevented a fourth goal, and Leverstock were unlucky not to get a consolation goal in stoppage time as they were denied by a goalline clearance.

The defeat leaves Leverstock six points adrift of safety, with their next game being at home to Barton Rovers on New Year’s Day.

Leverstock Green (0) 0
1. Liam Gauthier, 2. Callum Neal (16. Adam Morley 66 mins), 3. Rio Beach, 4. Dan Weeks, 5. Oliwier Fusiek (14. Daniel Isaac 89 mins), 6. Ademide Baruwa (15. Callum Moore 89 mins), 7. Jamie Breen (12. Ryan Carruthers 74 mins), 8. Dan Pett, 9. Rawn Seale, 10. Nat Connolly (17. Michael Adriano 76 mins), 11. Keanu Fleming.
Aylesbury United (0) 3 (Wood 71, Halatyn 74, Kassim 87)
1. Jack Hopwood, 2. Liam Batchelor-Morgan (16. Ashis Rai 87 mins), 3. Jake Bewley, 4. Jack Wood, 5. Kian Henry, 6. Brandon Green (15. Thomas Cove 65 mins), 7. William St Clair-Burton, 8. Songona-Mory Kone, 9. Kajetan Halatyn, 10. Ben Peters (12. Sonny French 87 mins), 11. Luqman Kassim. Subs not used: 14. Daniel Lodovica, 17. Kacper Kloc.

vs