Leverstock Green came back from 3-1 down against Aylesbury United and should have gone on to win the game against ten men, but had to settle for yet another draw as they were unable to put the ball in the net during a frantic final ten minutes.

There were two further additions to the Leverstock squad today, with 17 year old striker Jael Norville joining on a work experience loan from Watford, and experienced utility player Lewis Rolfe signing on a dual registration from Chesham United.

Leverstock should have been ahead within twenty seconds of the kick off. After good build-up play from Jeffrey Sekyere and Iker Noguera Leon, Rolfe delivered a cross which Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica came in to meet, but put it wide from point blank range. However, in the 5th minute Leverstock were awarded a penalty for a mistimed tackle that brought down Stefanoaica, and Sekyere made no mistake from the spot kick to put them into a 1-0 lead.

Leverstock looked good value for their lead, but it was short-lived as the visitors equalised in the 15th minute through Sonny French, who hit a dipping shot from outside the box which flew over Harry Way. Worse was to come, as an almost identical strike from Finlay Reeves put Aylesbury 2-1 up in the 26th minute from only their second shot of the game. Leverstock were denied an equaliser in the 33rd minute, with Ducks keeper Jack Hopwood pulling off a great save to keep out Leon’s shot after a cross from Stefanoaica had set him up.

The visitors took their lead into the break, and extended it in the 51st minute when Luke Martin bundled the ball home from a poorly-defended corner. However, Leverstock got themselves back into the game within two minutes, as Dan Pett exchanged passes with Sekyere before slotting past Hopwood to reduce the arrears to 3-2.

Leverstock pressed for an equaliser, with Stefanoaica going on a solo run into the box before having his shot turned wide by Hopwood on 62 minutes, and two minutes later heading over the bar from a Rolfe cross. The visitors were then reduced to ten men. Reeves had been yellow-carded for a blatant dive in the box on 58 minutes, and six minutes later received a second yellow for delaying a restart.

The game was played almost entirely in the Aylesbury half from this point. Norville came off the bench for his debut in the 69th minute, and a minute later another chance was missed as Sekyere headed wide from a Stefanoaica cross. Finally in the 80th minute Leverstock got the equaliser their pressure deserved. Pett’s pass set up a chance for Norville, and the youngster produced a neat finish from a narrow angle to make the score 3-3.

Over the remaining minutes there was a series of corners, crosses and goalmouth scrambles, but the ball would not go in the net for Leverstock. Sekyere and Stefanoaica both missed clear chances from close range and the Aylesbury defence also produced a couple of goal-line clearances. Assistant manager Scott McGleish brought himself off the bench to make an extra target for a last-gasp free kick, but again the ball would not go in.

Leverstock Green (1) 3 (Sekyere 6 pen, Pett 53, Norville 80)
1. Harry Way, 2. Callum Neal, 3. Lewis Rolfe, 4. Thomas Georgiou, 18. Tommy Boxer (14. John Gyabaah 78 mins) 6. Nat Connolly (16. Jael Norville 69 mins), 7. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica, 8. Dan Pett, 9. Jeffrey Sekyere, 10. Marcus Warren (20. Scott McGleish 90+4 mins), 11. Iker Noguera Leon. Sub not used: 12. Josh Dooley, 16. Juan Pablo Velasco.
Aylesbury United (2) 3 (French 15, Reeves 26, Martin 51)
1. Jack Hopwood, 2. Lee Stobbs, 3. Jake Bewley, 4. Jack Wood, 5. Luke Martin, 6. Sonny French, 7. Ayo Akinbobola (16. Liam Batchelor-Morgan 80 mins), 8. Fabian Garcia, 9. Benji Kakembo (12. Abdullah Jellal 53 mins), 10. Rocko Tamplin, 11. Finlay Reeves. Subs not used: 13. Tom Alexander, 14. Remel Larwood, 15. Ben Peters.

Leverstock Green staged a late fightback, but they could not recover from the damage of a poor first half against Biggleswade F.C. It was a depleted Leverstock squad this afternoon, with several injuries alongside the one-game suspension of second highest goalscorer Joe McCarthy for accruing five yellow cards.

The visitors were ahead as early as the third minute. The Leverstock defence was caught out of position, with Adam Hunt having space to run into the box down the left. Hunt played the ball out to Alex Marsh, who squared back into the box for Hunt to finish from close range.

Marsh could have made it two in the 7th minute, but his long-range effort was tipped over the bar by Harry Way. In the 18th minute Ethan Kessel shot wide of the target after another run into the box from Hunt. The second goal arrived in the 21st minute. As a cross came in from the left, Aldo Petagine was prevented from scoring an own goal by a good save from Way, but the rebound came out to Sonny Coughlin-Brown, who fired home to make it 2-0 to the visitors.

Leverstock finally got some possession in the closing minutes of the half and put some pressure on the Biggleswade defence, but they were fortunate to only be trailing by two goals at the break. The start of the second half was more promising. In the opening minute Iker Noguera Leon fed a pass through to Ethan Mooney, whose shot brought a great save from keeper Blade Earley. A minute later Jeffrey Sekyere had a shot blocked in the box.

However, an unfortunate third goal for the visitors in the 53rd minute gave Leverstock even more of a mountain to climb. Biggleswade were awarded a free kick in a dangerous position just outside the box, and Kessel’s kick took a big deflection off Hunt which took it past Way and into the net.

Leverstock brought on Justin Dass and John Gyabaah for their first appearances in a few weeks, and the two players looked bright and were key factors in Leverstock playing their way back into the game. They got a glimmer of hope in the 63rd minute when Leon was brought down by Earley inside the box as he was running away from goal. The referee awarded the penalty, and Sekyere put away the spot kick with his usual composure to pull a goal back.

Leverstock’s pressure was increasing over the closing minutes of the game, and in the 90th minute they went close when a shot from Dan Pett was turned round the post by Earley. From the resulting corner Sekyere rose highest to connect with a glancing header to reduce the arrears to 3-2.

Four minutes of stoppage time were signalled, and in the fifth of those minutes Leverstock were awarded a free kick midway inside the Biggleswade half. With only seconds left even Way came up into the box to compete for Pett’s cross floated into the box, but the ball was cleared to Daniel Bond near the halfway line. Gyabaah was the only man back, and he looked to have done enough to stop Bond, but an unlucky deflection saw the substitute go clean through to slot into the empty net and make it 4-2 with the last kick of the game.

Leverstock Green (0) 2 (Sekyere 64 pen, 90)
1. Harry Way, 2. Callum Neal, 3. Aldo Petagine (15. John Gyabaah 62 mins), 4. Josh Dooley, 5. Thomas Georgiou, 6. Ryan Carruthers, 7. Ethan Mooney (14. Justin Dass 48 mins), 8. Dan Pett, 9. Jeffrey Sekyere, 10. Nat Connolly (18. Scott McGleish 81 mins), 11.Iker Noguera Leon. Subs not used: 12. Dan Casey, 20. Tommy Boxer.
Biggleswade FC (2) 4 (Hunt 3, 53, Coughlin-Brown 21, Bond 90+6)
1. Blade Earley, 2. Adam Hunt, 3. Lawrie Marsh, 4. Billy Baird (16. Luke Oswick 73 mins), 5. Leo Jenkins, 6. Pete Holmes, 7. Alex Marsh, 8. Conor Inskip, 9. Temi Akinbusoye (14. Daniel Bond 72 mins), 10. Ethan Kessel (12. Charlie Hayford 73 mins), 11. Sonny Coughlin-Brown (17. George Bailey 72 mins). Sub not used: 15. Sammy Fisher-Diaz.

Last season it took Leverstock Green from December until March to get their third win in the Southern League, and the third win is proving equally elusive this season for Fergus Moore’s side, with ten games having passed since their last win in August. Leverstock were somewhat fortunate to come away with a point from tonight’s game against bottom side Rayners Lane, with Joe McCarthy popping up in stoppage time to net an equaliser.

Leverstock made a promising start to this game. In the 7th minute Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica, in the starting lineup tonight, delivered a cross which Jeffrey Sekyere headed over. Two minutes later a pass from Ryan Carruthers gave Stefanoaica the chance to beat a defender but his eventual shot went wide. In the 27th minute a pass from Marcus Warren put Sekyere through but his shot was across goal and wide. Five minutes later a long throw from Dan Casey bounced up for Sekyere, but his header from close range was saved by the keeper.

The chances kept on coming. On 35 minutes a cross from Stefanoaica was missed by the keeper but just eluded McCarthy coming in at the far post. Four minutes later McCarthy was in from a Carruthers pass, but couldn’t get a shot in. The ball ran for Sekyere, whose shot was saved, and then back to McCarthy, who was upended in the box by a challenge from Bobby Bircham. The referee awarded the penalty, and Sekyere sent the keeper the wrong way from the spot to net his fifth goal in successive games.

That should have been the springboard for Leverstock to go on and take control of the game, but in the last minute of the half they were undone by a pass which put former Leverstock striker Guiseppe Delgaudio through on goal. Harry Way came out his goal to make a challenge but Delgaudio went past him to slot into the empty net for a 1-1 half time scoreline.

Having played well in the first half, Leverstock’s second half display was very disappointing. Rayners Lane were looking the better side now, and there was a sense of inevitability about their 74th minute goal which put them in front. Bradley Walsh netted from close range after a free kick was not cleared for a 2-1 scoreline.

Leverstock seemed unable to create anything around the Rayners Lane box, and had scarcely had a shot in the second half as the game went into stoppage time. But in the third of the four minutes indicated, a flick on found McCarthy in the box, and he beat a defender before slotting under the keeper for a very welcome Leverstock equaliser to claim what might be another crucial point. It was an eighth draw in 14 league games for Leverstock this season.

Leverstock Green (1) 2 (Sekyere 39 pen, McCarthy 90+3)
1. Harry Way, 2. Dan Casey, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Josh Dooley, 20. Tommy Boxer (14. Iker Noguera Leon 79 mins), 6. Ryan Carruthers (12. Nat Connolly 74 mins), 7. Joe McCarthy, 8. Dan Pett, 9. Jeffrey Sekyere, 10. Marcus Warren (16. Juan Pablo Velasco 61 mins), 11. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica (18. Jack Allen 74 mins). Sub not used: 15. Ethan Mooney.
Rayners Lane (1) 2 (Delgaudio 45, Walsh 74)
1. Charlie Patmore, 2. Bobby Bircham (15. Kean Graver 59 mins), 3. Reece Jhuti, 4. Sam Denham, 5. Kyle Clifford, 6. Johnny Wilson, 7. Frankie Bircham, 8. Mweembe Chiabi, 9. Guiseppe Delgaudio (12. Samuel Adetiba 73 mins), 10. Jeremy Stewart (16. London Brookshaw 70 mins), 11. Bradley Walsh (17. Shakeel Naim 88 mins). Sub not used: 14. Qasim Khan.

It’s now nine games without a league win for Leverstock Green, although they should have got at least a point from Saturday’s game against high-flying Ware. Leverstock played very well, but conceded two goals from set piece headers and they did not make the most of the chances of the chances they created.

Leverstock started the game strongly, with Joe McCarthy looking their most dangerous player. McCarthy had a shot turned away by Ware keeper Ben Nightingale in the 4th minute, and was denied again by Nightingale in the 13th minute from a shot after a run into the box.

Having started the game well, Leverstock found themselves behind in the 23rd minute, and it was a familiar tale as Ware scored from a corner. Theo Ofori’s header went in off the post to put Ware into a 1-0 lead.

Leverstock almost equalised within a minute, as McCarthy got to the bye-line and pulled the ball back for Jeffrey Sekyere, whose shot from close range was straight at Nightingale’s legs. However, they didn’t have to wait much longer for the equaliser. In the 26th minute a flick on from McCarthy found Sekyere in the box, and Sekyere showed some neat footwork before planting a chip over Nightingale that went in at the far post to level the scores at 1-1.

Harry Way did well to turn away a long-range Ware shot in the 32nd minute, and two minutes before the break a pass from Dan Pett put Iker Noguera Leon in on goal, but Nightingale blocked his shot.

The scores were level after a competitive first half, but Leverstock were caught cold in the opening minute of the second half. A free kick from midway inside their half was floated to the far post, where big defender Joshua Okotcha found space to send a bullet header past Way for a 2-1 Ware lead.

Again Leverstock responded well to going behind. In the 51st minute a cross from Sekyere found McCarthy, who met it with a header that hit the bar and went over. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica came off the bench in the 64th minute to add to Leverstock’s attacking threat, and five minutes later he went close with a backheeled effort from Sekyere’s cross that was saved.

In the 77th minute Sekyere sent the ball out wide to Stefanoaica, who delivered a cross that found McCarthy in front of goal but again Nightingale pulled off a great save to keep his shot out. In the 89th minute a cross from McCarthy found Stefanoaica with a looping header that went just over the bar. Leverstock kept pushing until the end for an equaliser, but it would not come.

Leverstock Green (1) 1 (Sekyere 26)
1. Harry Way, 2. Dan Casey, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Josh Dooley, 5. Thomas Georgiou, 6. Nat Connolly (12. Ryan Carruthers 80 mins), 7.Joe Mccarthy (14. Ethan Mooney 90+2 mins), 8. Dan Pett, 9. Jeffrey Sekyere, 10. Juan Pablo Velasco (19. Jack Allen 74 mins), 11. Iker Noguera Leon (15. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica 64 mins). Sub not used: 16. Marcus Warren.
Ware (1) 2 (Ofori 23, Okotcha 46)
1. Ben Nightingale, 2. Finley Titchmarsh, 3. George Alfieri, 4. Sami Moutawafiq, 5. Joshua Okotcha, 6. Bendie Idikayi, 7. Theophilus Ofori (14. Caiden Remy-Dee 71 mins), 8. Herbie Townsend, 9. Reece Beckles-Richards (12. Gabriel Chapps 81 mins), 10. Rechan Esprit (15. Max Granville 71 mins), 11. Samuel Kifwasima-Mayuma. Subs not used: 16. Jay Rolfe, 17. David Sota.