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.