Lords Builders Merchants Stadium

Leverstock Green F.C.

Pancake Lane,
Leverstock Green,
Hemel Hempstead,
Herts.
HP2 4NQ

(H) Barton Rovers

Leverstock Green continued their pre-season build-up with a home friendly against Southern League side Barton Rovers. The games finished as a win for the visitors, but it was an excellent display by the Leverstock side and an entertaining game all-round for the spectators.

The Barton side included Curtis Donaldson, a prolific scorer for the Green over the last two seasons. Leverstock had a chance to take the lead in the 20th minute when a pass from Jonathan Lacey put Sammy Nair through on goal, but his shot was saved by the keeper. It was Barton who scored the opening goal in the 27th minute. Green keeper Charlie May did well to save a header from a corner, but Nathan Olakube followed up to net the rebound.

The scores were levelled in the 36th minute. Lacey hit a shot from the edge of the box which was well-saved, but the loose ball eventually came to David Lawrence, who poked it home for the equaliser. However, Barton were back in front within a couple of minutes with a well-taken goal from Joshua Oyinsan. In the last minute of the half both Lacey and Nair hit shots that brought good saves out of the Barton keeper.

Leverstock continued to play well in the second half, despite the wet conditions that persisted throughout the game. In the second minute of the half Alex Marsh hit a great shot which was tipped over the bar by the keeper. On 56 minutes Brima Johnson won the ball from a Barton defender and immediately played it through to Nair, whose rasping shot rattled the post. Five minutes later an impressive passing move ended with Johnson sending a cross to the far post to find Lacey, whose header was blocked on the line, with Lawrence just failing to get on the end of the rebound.

Starting team: Charlie May, Zak Howells, Brima Johnson, Lewis Bowers, Reece Fallon, Ben Darby, Ross Adams, Chris Marsh, David Lawrence, Jonathan Lacey, Sammy Nair.
Also used: Alex Marsh, Aaron Flood, Mason Tunbridge, Luke Nugent, Kendall Allen, Karl Thomas, Casey Linsell.

Earlier in the day Leverstock’s under-18 side enjoyed an excellent 4-1 win over Barton’s under-18 side.

Leverstock’s final pre-season friendly is next Saturday at home to another Southern League side, Northwood.

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(H) Barton Rovers

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(H) Kings Langley

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(H) AFC Dunstable U16 EJA

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(H) AFC Dunstable

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(H) Bovingdon

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(H) Tring Athletic

Leverstock Green missed out on a cup final for the second time this season as they were beaten 2-1 at home to Tring Athletic in the semi-finals of the St Mary’s Cup on Tuesday night. The Green side put in a great effort in the second half, but it was not quite enough to overturn a two-goal deficit.

The first half was a relatively quiet affair with few chances for either side. Jack Read hit a shot over the bar for Tring in the 11th minute, while three minutes later a cross from Brima Johnson was tipped over the bar by Tring keeper Jack Hopwood. On 22 minutes Ross Adams ran onto a through pass from Curtis Donaldson and took the ball round Hopwood, but his shot from a narrow angle was cleared off the line. Hopwood turned a free kick from Donaldson round the post in the 37th minute.

Leverstock lost Casey Linsell to injury after a clash of heads a minute later, and shortly afterwards Tring took the lead with a goal that stemmed from a throw-in that was wrongly awarded to Tring by the linesman. The decision was wrong, but Leverstock were still guilty of giving the ball away in their own half, and a few passes later Ollie Butler laid off to Luke Dunstan, who found the top corner of the net with a shot from outside the box.

It looked all over when Tring added a second goal in the 58th minute, Chris Vardy shooting home from a cross by Tommy Twelves. However, within two minutes Leverstock were back in the game. After a neat passing move Donaldson crossed to the far post, where Adams put the ball back across goal and Danilson Vicente came in to score from close range and reduce the arrears to 2-1.

There could have been an equaliser in the 63rd minute when Donaldson came in to meet a great cross from David Lawrence, but he couldn’t direct his header on target. For the rest of the game Leverstock pushed forward in search of the goal that would have forced extra time. On 72 minutes David Serinolli set up Adams for a shot which brought a great save out of Hopwood. Five minutes later a corner from Donaldson found Shane Wood with a free header, but it went wide. Three minutes from time Wood had another chance when he got on the end of a free kick from Karl Thomas, but again the header was off target.

In the end Tring held out to get through to the final against Kings Langley, while Leverstock can now start looking towards next season, and planning to improve on what has been their best campaign for five years.

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