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.

Leverstock Green opened the new year with three points as they claimed a hard-fought win against Dunstable Town. The Pancake Lane pitch is not in the best shape at the moment, and although the pitch passed a morning inspection, it was a difficult surface for both sides to play on, with a bobbly surface and a lack of bounce, and the game was hardly a great spectacle.

It was the visitors who had the game’s first efforts at goal in the 10th minute, with a succession of shots being blocked in the six-yard box before Luke Little hit a shot high and wide of the target. Matt Fallon comfortably gathered a shot from Joe Hankins in the 21st minute.

Leverstock had won a couple of corners, but their first effort on goal came in the 28th minute when John Smith shot just wide from the edge of the box. Dunstable had a good chance on the break in the 36th minute, but Daniel Trif ballooned his shot over the bar. Five minutes before half time Chris Gosling was brought down just outside the box to give Leverstock a free kick in a great position, but Luke Peerless shot wide from the free kick as the first half ended in stalemate.

There was some controversy in the 52nd minute when Peerless appeared to be barged over when running through on goal, but the referee waved play on. Adiel Mannion protested about the non-decision, and as a result was sent to the sin-bin for ten minutes. It was while Leverstock were playing with ten men that they scored the game’s only goal. Half time substitute Jamie Ovington delivered a superb cross from the right touchline, and Peerless got on the end of it to head home.

That proved to be an isolated moment of quality as the game continued to be scrappy. Dunstable felt they had a good shout for a penalty later in the half, but again the referee was unmoved, and they came close to an equaliser in the fourth minute of stoppage time when Chris Stapleton got on the end of a corner with a looping header that went just over the bar, with many in the ground thinking it had gone in.

Leverstock held on for their third win over Dunstable this season, with Peerless having scored the winning goal in two of them. The three points means that Leverstock have already topped last season’s points tally after just 22 games.

Leverstock Green ended 2019 in disappointing fashion as they fell to a 3-0 home defeat to Crawley Green in Saturday’s SSML Premier Division game. On a very sticky Pancake Lane pitch, the Leverstock side created little, while the visitors were clinical in taking their chances.

The first effort on goal came in the 6th minute, an ambitious attempt by Jamie Ovington to lob the visiting keeper George Rose from the halfway line, Rose gathering the ball comfortably. Two minutes later the visitors were ahead. A through ball found striker Danny Watson ahead of the last Leverstock defender. The view of most in the crowd had been that Watson was offside, but the linesman’s flag stayed down and Watson ran on to take the ball past Matt Fallon and slot into the empty net.

Leverstock had some chances to level the scores. In the 13th minute Louie Griffiths made a good run before squaring for Conor Blake, who got a shot away, but it was saved by Rose. In the 19th minute a free kick from Frankie Jowle found Griffiths, but his header was blocked. The closest Leverstock came to scoring was in the 25th minute. A fine cross from Jowle found Ovington, whose header came down off the underside of the bar but was palmed away by Rose. Jack Stevens made an attempt at the loose ball but was flagged offside.

Leverstock continued to push forward, but as was the case for much of the game, they were unable to find the final ball to create the clear-cut chances. The state of the pitch certainly didn’t help, but as in their previous home game against Edgware, they were playing a side whose home turf is artificial, but who coped with the muddy conditions better. A second Crawley Green goal in the final minute of the half made it an even tougher task for the Leverstock side, and it was a well-worked goal with Billy Lobjoit threading a pass to Glenn Cooksley, who slotted the ball past Fallon with one touch.

The second half saw plenty of effort from the Leverstock side, but again little was created, and it was the visitors who came closest to scoring a couple of times on the break before they finally did add a third goal in the 83rd minute. Leverstock twice missed the chance to clear the ball before Phil Draycott shot home from the edge of the area.

Draycott’s joy was short-lived, as within two minutes he had been shown a second yellow card and sent off, but the ten men had no difficulty holding onto their three-goal lead over the final minutes.