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.

Leverstock Green and Biggleswade United fought out a tough, uncompromising 0-0 draw in Tuesday night’s SSML Premier Division game. Despite the absence of goals it was an enthralling match with near misses at both ends. Both sides gave their all, and Leverstock in particular gave a resolute display at the back and were in no mood to give anything away.

There was another new signing making his debut tonight in centre forward Jamie Calvin, whose previous clubs include Daventry Town, Kings Langley, Kidlington and Hertford Town.

The visitors made a very fast start to the game and could have been a couple of goals up inside five minutes. In the second minute former Green player Ethan Flanagan got on the end of a cross from Codi Spavins and headed just wide. A minute later Charlie Black struck a shot from distance which Matt Fallon got a hand to and tipped onto the bar. At the other end Oran Swales put in a cross in the 5th minute that was cleared from the six yard box, and another which whipped across the face of goal in the 14th minute, but the first real chance came in the 18th minute when Dan Weeks got on the end of a cross but headed over the bar.

Biggleswade were threatening again on 22 minutes when a pass from Dave Parkinson put Spavins through, but after a couple of twists and turns Spavins’ eventual shot was blocked by a sliding challenge from Mickey Shuttlewood. Two minutes later the action was at the other end when Swales hit a shot from a narrow angle which was saved by keeper Taylor Haddow. On 32 minutes Fallon made another great save, diving to his left to keep out a rasping shot from former Green player Parkinson with one hand. Three minutes later a deflected free kick from Swales caused some confusion in the Biggleswade six-yard box but the ball would not go in.

The game threatened to boil over in the closing minutes of the half, and Leverstock were temporarily reduced to ten men when John Smith was sent to the sin bin.

Five minutes into the second half the visitors hit the bar for a second time as Parkinson hit another fierce shot from distance, after which Smith rejoined the game. On 62 minutes Fallon had to save again, keeping the ball out with his legs when Spavins was through on goal. Two minutes later Weeks won the ball in midfield and ran on to hit a shot, but it was comfortably saved by Haddow. On 72 minutes a cross from Frank Jowle sailed just over the head of Calvin.

As the game went into stoppage time it was still 0-0, but Leverstock were very unlucky not to grab a late winner as they had all the pressure during stoppage time. Two minutes into stoppage time a free kick dropped for Calvin eight yards out, but his hooked shot went just over. Five minutes into stoppage time a corner from Swales was met at the far post by Shuttlewood with a downward header that bounced up and agonisingly just over the bar. The final whistle came soon after, and it was a deserved point for both sides, and an impressive result for Leverstock against a team that had won their last four games.

Leverstock Green: 1. Matt Fallon, 2. Brima Johnson, 3. Will Bisney, 4. Dan Weeks, 5. Mickey Shuttlewood, 6. Steve Hawes (17. Kian Wilkes 74 mins), 7. John Smith, 8. James Hall, 9. Jamie Calvin, 10. Oran Swales, 11. Frank Jowle (16. Sidney Gueye 74 mins). Subs not used: 12. Cass Grant, 14. Jamie Ovington, 15. Connor Church.

Biggleswade United: 1. Taylor Haddow, 2. Milo Keane, 3. Ross Taylor, 4. Jaiden Irish, 5. Jordan Wright, 6. Ethan Flanagan, 7. Codi Spavins (15. Dan Parkinson 79 mins), 8. Gareth Hunt (14. George Harlow 89 mins), 9. Dave Parkinson (16. Charlie Clayton 66 mins), 10. Charlie Black, 11. Dom Morgillo. Subs not used: 12. Jordan Jarrold, 17. Ollie Leslie.