Leverstock Green gained their second win of the week with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Wembley in Saturday’s SSML Premier Division game at Pancake Lane. Wembley were in the bottom three at start of play but kept the Leverstock defence busy with a lot of attacking play. Heavy rain before the game and throughout the second half made for difficult slippery conditions for both sides.

An injury during the warm-up led to a late enforced change as Brima Johnson came in for Casey Linsell. Leverstock had a sight of goal within the opening 20 seconds as Marcus Campbell worked the space for a shot from the edge of the box, but Wembley keeper Montel Joseph grabbed it out of the air. The opening goal came in the 8th minute. After some neat passing play, Luke Nugent took the ball on and hit a shot from the edge of the box which Joseph should have dealt with, but the keeper spilled the ball and Sam Nair had a simple tap-in from close range to put the Green into a 1-0 lead.

There was almost a second goal within two minutes as Johnson took on a defender on the edge of the box and hit a shot which Joseph had to dive down low to stop near the post. Wembley pushed forward in search of an equaliser, but good work at the centre of defence from Alex Condon and Ethan Flanagan kept them out. Flanagan went close to adding a second goal in the 28th minute when he got on the end of a free kick from Nair, but his header went just wide. Wembley’s best chance of the half came in the 37th minute as Alesandro Puerini turned and shot from the edge of the six-yard box, but Rob Partington saved. Four minutes later a pass from Mark Smith put Nair through, but his shot went wide as Joseph came racing out of his goal.

After a rain-free first half, the heavens opened again at half time and continued throughout the second half. Within five minutes of the restart Wembley were reduced to ten men as Hani Berchiche was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle. Despite their reduced ranks, and now playing up the slope, Wembley continued to have more of the attacking play. They finally got their equaliser in the 64th minute. Wayne Walters was allowed to run unchallenged into the Leverstock half and play a pass through to substitute Zaied Sabti, who slotted the ball past Partington to level the scores at 1-1.

However, parity only lasted for four minutes. Leverstock won a corner, which was taken by Nair. The cross was headed away, but only back to Nair, who crossed it in again, and this time it found its way to the far post where Alex Condon stabbed the ball home to put Leverstock back in front at 2-1.

There were few chances as conditions became ever more difficult towards the end of the game. Condon came closest to adding a third Leverstock goal two minutes from time when he won the ball and ran on to hit a shot just wide. Leverstock were content to see the game out, but there was still time for a couple of ugly incidents in stoppage time which saw three Leverstock players amongst four players booked. Eventually the referee blew the final whistle and Leverstock had their three points.

Next up for Leverstock is the rearranged Buildbase FA Vase Second Round tie away to Enfield, which is being played on Tuesday night at Harlow Town F.C.

Leverstock Green got back to winning ways with an excellent result on Tuesday night against a lively Harpenden side who had won their previous match 7-0 against Potton United.

There were two new signings making their debut in the Leverstock side. With regular keeper Arvydas Kacinkevicius having suffered a horrific hand injury last week which will keep him out for some time, former Oxhey Jets keeper Rob Partington has been drafted in. The other new face was striker Marcus Campbell, signed from Berkhamsted, and previously with Welwyn Garden City, Bedford Town, Leighton Town and AFC Dunstable among others.

Leverstock almost got away to the ideal start when they won a free kick in a dangerous position in the 2nd minute. Sam Nair curled his effort up and over the wall, but it struck the bar and bounced over. It was Harpenden who had the better of the early stages, though, with Archie McClelland going closest for them on 16 minutes, shooting just wide having been put clean through.

The scoring was opened in the 19th minute, and it was Leverstock who took the advantage. The goal owed a lot to skipper Mark Smith, who showed some good footwork by the right touchline to beat a defender before passing to Reynaldo Carbon, whose ball across the face of goal was turned in at the far post by Campbell, marking his debut with a goal.

Six minutes later the lead was doubled as Leverstock won a corner. Nair swung the ball into the near post where it was met by Jordon Goode with a bullet header to beat former Green keeper Carl Tasker.

It could have been 3-0 in the 28th minute when a cross from the right went over a defender and landed at the feet of Campbell in space, but having cut back inside, Campbell’s eventual shot was saved by Tasker. There was another chance on 34 minutes when Nair set up Alex Condon for a shot from the edge of the box which went just over the bar. The third goal eventually arrived in the 38th minute. Luke Nugent brought the ball out of defence and played it up to Campbell, who had the chance to lay off a pass either way as he headed for goal, but chose to go himself and struck a superb chip shot from just outside the box which left Tasker rooted to the spot as it found the top corner of the net.

Partington was brought into action in the 41st minute as he had to turn a free kick from McClelland round the post, and in the last minute of the half Partington saved a long-range shot from Kyle McLeish, but couldn’t hold onto it and McClelland followed up to net the rebound and put his side back into the game going into the break.

Harpenden started the second half well, and almost pulled a second goal back in the 50th minute when Jack Baker hit a goalbound shot, but Partington did well to get his fingertips onto it and tip it onto the woodwork. On 61 minutes Baker had another shot which Partington saved, and couldn’t hold onto at the first attempt, but recovered to claim at the second attempt with McClelland following in again.

Leverstock chances were few and far between in the second half, but on 66 minutes a cross from the left found Smith with a header in front of goal, but Tasker saved. Five minutes later Carbon beat a defender on the left side of the box before hitting a shot across goal and wide.

Leverstock began to slow the game down over the closing minutes, but Harpenden still had a couple of late chances to score. In the 88th minute a long throw into the box landed at the feet of McLeish six yards out, but his shot was kept out by Partington. Four minutes into stoppage time a volley from Baker was heading into the net, but Casey Linsell kept it out with an astonishing clearance, kicking it up and over the bar from the goal line. The final whistle sounded soon after to confirm a fine win against a good side.

Leverstock Green had to settle for a point from Saturday’s SSML Premier Division game against Crawley Green although they had enough chances to have won it comfortably. Having said that, the game could have gone either way with the visitors also missing a penalty. It was a much better performance from the Leverstock team than last week’s insipid display against London Tigers.

Crawley Green made the better start to the game and could have gone in front on 13 minutes when Tyler Ingram threaded a pass through to Phil Draycott, but Arvydas Kacinkevicius saved Draycott’s shot with his leg. However on 19 minutes Draycott was on hand to finish a cross from close range to put his side into a 1-0 lead.

On 23 minutes Leverstock won a free kick in a dangerous position, and with usual free kick taker Chris Blunden serving a one-game suspension, Jonathan Lacey had a go at curling one over the wall, but it was comfortably saved by visiting keeper Danzell St Louis-Hamilton. However, a minute later Lacey came in from a narrow angle and hit a shot which the keeper should have gathered easily, but the ball slipped out of his hands, and Reynaldo Carbon put away the loose ball to level the scores at 1-1.

For the remainder of the half Leverstock had much the better of things. On 29 minutes Lacey and Luke Preedy combined to put Carbon through on the keeper, but he pulled his shot just wide of the far post. Five minutes later a pass from Luke Nugent gave Lacey the chance to go clean through, but he hit his eventual shot inches over the bar. There was another good chance three minutes before the break when a deflected pass from Lacey put Carbon in again. This time Carbon’s shot was on target but St Louis-Hamilton got a hand to it to turn it round the post.

Three minutes into the second half it was the visitors turn to miss a golden opportunity. Draycott made a run into the box and was brought down by a Leverstock defender. It looked like a harsh decision, but the referee awarded the penalty. However, Danny Watson’s spot kick brought a save out of Kacinkevicius to keep the scores at 1-1.

Leverstock then had more chances to get their noses in front. On 65 minutes a pass from Mark Smith put Alex Yearwood in behind the defence, but again they were denied as St Louis-Hamilton turned Yearwood’s shot into the side netting. Two minutes later Yearwood was denied by another save from the keeper following a build-up involving Preedy, Carbon and Smith. On 74 minutes Leverstock had another free kick in a good position just outside the box. Carbon tried his luck this time, but St Louis-Hamilton turned it round the post.

Two minutes later it was Crawley that went close as Billy Lobjoit put the ball across the face of goal and just wide. Seconds later at the other end Lacey exchanged passes with Carbon to go clean through, but his shot went across the face of goal and just wide.

There was another flurry of chances late in the game. Two minutes from time a corner from Casey Linsell was headed off the line at the far post. A minute later Nugent played a great ball down the line to give Alex Witham a run at goal, but his intended square ball to Carbon was cut out by a defender when going directly for goal may have been the better option. In stoppage time a shot from Witham brought another great save out of St Louis-Hamilton, and when the ball was put back into the six-yard box Lacey looked set to score but the keeper dived at his feet to claim the ball. There was still time for Crawley to miss a chance of their own, with Mark Bunker putting the ball over the bar seconds before the referee blew for full time.

The result leaves Leverstock still in the bottom half of the table, although still with games in hand on most of the sides above them. This week sees them return to cup action, with a visit to Unite MK on Wednesday night in the first round of the Challenge Trophy followed by Sunday’s trip to the Harlow Arena to face to Enfield F.C. in the second round of the Buildbase FA Vase.

Leverstock Green fell to a disappointing home defeat to London Tigers in Saturday’s SSML Premier Division fixture. Leverstock failed to produce their usual fluent football, while the frequent gamesmanship of the visitors ensured that the game never really got going as a spectacle.

The Green squad continues to have problems at the centre-back position, with Jude Bell the only one of the regular centre-backs fit to play, until another injury took him out of the game midway through the second half. There was little to write about in the early stages of the game, other than a free kick from Chris Blunden which went just wide in the 10th minute. In the 22nd minute a poor kick by the Tigers keeper gave Mark Smith a chance to send a lob from distance over the stranded keeper, but it went over the bar. Two minutes later Leverstock were behind as a mistake by keeper Arvydas Kacinkevicius gifted the visitors an opening goal.

Tigers then started to play some good football, with a shot from Dayaan Salifou going across the face of goal and wide after a quick breakaway. Three minutes later Paulo Alves threaded a pass through to Joel Ramos, but his shot from a narrow angle was saved by Kacinkevicius. On 37 minutes Leverstock had a chance when Jonathan Lacey’s free kick was put back across the face of goal by a defender, but Jordon Goode’s shot was over the bar. Two minutes later Smith had another effort from distance which went over the bar. Having not played well at all for the first half, Leverstock were gifted a way back into the game in stoppage time as a defender handled the ball while running out of the penalty area. The linesman spotted the handball and alerted the referee, and Lacey put away the resulting spot kick to send the Green into the break with the scores level at 1-1.

However, it took Tigers just five minutes of the second half to back in front at 2-1 through a far post header from a corner, leaving Leverstock in search of another equaliser. Another handball gave them a free kick in a dangerous position on 56 minutes, but Blunden’s shot was comfortably gathered by the keeper. Two minutes later they were unlucky when Lacey’s instinctive turn and shot from the edge of the box struck the bar.

On 67 minutes a long pass from Lacey almost created a goal when a defender tried to play the ball back to his keeper, only to find that the keeper wasn’t there. Sam Nair nipped in for the loose ball but his shot from a narrow angle was cleared off the line. There was another chance for Lacey on 73 minutes after a cross from Luke Nugent, but his shot went wide.

Leverstock’s chances took a further blow ten minutes from time when they were reduced to ten men. Blunden had already been booked for an earlier altercation, and foul and abusive language directed at an opponent who was timewasting saw him receive a second yellow and a red. As the game went into stoppage time, Kacinkevicius came up for a couple of corners, but Leverstock were unable to make anything of either. Six minutes into stoppage time Tigers added a third through Joseph Moore, whose long-distance lob went in off the post.

A disappointing result and performance, and the Green side will certainly have to play a lot better than this if they have ambitions of challenging in the top half of the table. The next match scheduled is at home to London Colney on Tuesday night, although this one is currently in doubt due to issues with the Pancake Lane floodlights.