Leverstock Green suffered their second home defeat in four days as Leighton Town showed why they have stormed into the top 3 of the SSML Premier Division with a run of seven straight wins and into the last 16 of the FA Vase. Two top quality strikes early in the second half sealed the match although Leighton were generally in control for much of the game.

There was little in the way of chances early on in the game as the two sides cancelled each other out, but Leighton took the lead in the 27th minute. A ball from the halfway line into the Leverstock box dropped between two defenders, and Lea Coulter pounced on the hesitation to nip in and shoot past Matt Evans.

Leverstock started to come into the game towards the end of the half. In the 36th minute a pass from Matt Bateman put Ross Adams through, but his ball across goal from a narrow angle was cleared from the six-yard box. Seconds later Brima Johnson hit a shot from the edge of the box just wide. Three minutes later a chipped pass from Bateman put Adams through again, but Leighton keeper Tom Wyant came off his line and bravely dived at Adams’ feet. Wyant required treatment after the save, and in the second minute of stoppage time added on for that treatment, Leverstock found an equaliser. Chris Marsh floated in a free kick from near the halfway line which Bateman got on the end of to head his 18th goal of the season and send the game into the break with the scores level at 1-1.

The second half started in a similarly cagey fashion to the first half, but a bolt from the blue in the 54th minute put Leighton back in front. Alex O’Brien shrugged off a challenge before hitting a dipping shot from 25 yards that flew past Evans into the net. Three minutes later there was another great strike from James Hatch, who turned on the edge of the box before drilling home a low shot.

Leverstock made a double change on the hour, bringing on Nick Jackson and Casey Linsell, who were both returning after lengthy absences, but despite some promising build-up play they were unable to create any serious threat to the Leighton goal.

A third substitution was required in the 77th minute as Alex Marsh suffered a nasty-looking foot injury and had to be carried from the pitch with blood pouring out of his boot. Leverstock were reduced to ten men for the last ten minutes of the match, as Adams, who had already been booked in the first half, received a second yellow card for another foul. It was Leverstock’s first red card since the opening day of the season.

Leverstock are still hanging onto a place in the top six of the table despite two successive defeats to sides above them, but they will hope to get back on track on Saturday when they travel to Stotfold.

Leverstock Green’s winless run extended to three games after Harpenden Town staged a second half comeback to overturn a half-time deficit and win Saturday’s SSML Premier Division game 2-1. On a difficult Pancake Lane pitch, both sides gave their all but Harpenden played the better football and ultimately deserved the win.

Leverstock were favouring a more direct style in the first half, and had the better of the early play. In the 6th minute Harpenden keeper Connor Samson came out of his area to cut out a through ball, but was caught out when the ball bounced over his head. Luke Marsh had a shot at the empty net but didn’t get enough behind it and a defender was able to get back and clear. Five minutes later Matt Bateman just failed to connect with a cross from Brima Johnson.

Harpenden had their first effort on goal in the 14th minute when James Yates cut in from the left and hit a shot across goal and just wide. However, a minute later a pass from David Lawrence put Bateman clean through, and Batemen placed an excellent chip over Samson to put Leverstock into a 1-0 lead.

The visitors had a good chance for an equaliser on 24 minutes when a short goal kick was intercepted by James Ewington, who headed straight for goal and looked set to score until Liam McCrohan got back and put in a superb sliding challenge to block the shot. Leverstock keeper Caolan Doyle-Creamer produced a great save in the 38th minute, getting down to turn away a shot from Yates with one hand. A minute before the break a pass from Curtis Donaldson but Bateman through again, and this time Bateman took the ball round Samson, but a defender got back to block his shot wide.

Harpenden were still a goal down at the break, but came close again in the 48th minute when a cross from the left was headed away by Alex Marsh, but only as far as Steve O’Reilly, whose shot from the edge of the box struck the crossbar. In the 56th minute a Leverstock defender slipped on the greasy surface and allowed Yates to have a run at goal and shoot home to level the scores at 1-1.

Leverstock found it difficult to create chances in the second half, but they had a good chance to go back in front on the hour when Donaldson’s pass put Jonathan Lacey through, but Samson did well to keep out Lacey’s shot. For the rest of the game, though, it seemed mostly a question of whether Harpenden would get the winner. Ewington shot over an empty net on 70 minutes after Doyle-Creamer had parried a shot, and six minutes later a pass allowed Ewington to get through between two Leverstock defenders, but Doyle-Creamer produced another great save to deny him.

On 80 minutes Ewington, who had scored six goals in his side’s previous game at Wembley, missed another good chance, sliding in at the near post to meet a cross but putting the ball wide. Three minutes later Leverstock were struggling to clear the ball from their own box. Ewington hit a shot which came back off the post, and Dave Keenleyside followed up to put the rebound in off the post. The Leverstock players and management protested that Keenleyside had been offside, but the goal stood.

Two minutes from time Ewington was denied again by another good save from Doyle-Creamer, keeping Leverstock still in the game through a lengthy period of stoppage time, but they were unable to find an equaliser and suffered only their second home league defeat of the season.

Leverstock are due to face Leighton Town at home on Tuesday night, but given the state of the pitch at the end of the game and the prospect of more rain, that game could be in doubt.

It was a frustrating evening for Leverstock Green as they were held to a 1-1 draw by a determined Colney Heath side in Tuesday night’s SSML Premier Division game at Pancake Lane.

Leverstock made a great start to the game, and were 1-0 up with just two minutes on the clock. Shane Wood’s long throw found Alex McCarthy unmarked to send a glancing header into the corner of the net.

Wood had the ball in the net again in the 8th minute, netting the rebound after a shot had been parried by keeper Steve Cunningham, but it was ruled out for offside. Colney Heath levelled the scores in the 17th minute as Jimmy Hill got on the end of a corner with a powerful header.

Leverstock were denied by the first of three goalline clearances in the 29th minute, as a thumping shot from Curtis Donaldson was headed off the line by Callum Dudrenec. Colney Heath went close again in the 40th minute when a shot from Harry Shepherd was deflected wide. From the resulting corner Leverstock broke quickly, with McCarthy getting the ball forward to David Lawrence, who sprinted away down the right before crossing for Donaldson, who was off-balance and put his shot over the bar. In the final minute of the half Lawrence was just wide with a shot.

Matt Evans made the first of three good saves in the 47th minute, tipping a header from Hill over the bar from Shepherd’s free kick. On 55 minutes Jack Waldren played a one-two with Chris Marsh before playing in Donaldson, whose shot went just wide of the near post.

Evans had to save again on 61 minutes, parrying away a shot from Osaman Allman, while three minutes later Lawrence was denied by the second goalline clearance of the night after Cunningham had failed to collect a cross. Leverstock were having more of the play in the second half, but too often failed to provide the final ball to create the chances their pressure merited.

In the 78th minute Matt Bateman hit a shot which Cunningham failed to hold onto at the first attempt, but just about gathered off the ground at the second attempt with Ross Adams coming in to try to force the ball home. Five minutes from time there was a third goalline clearance in the Colney Heath box, while a minute from time Evans produced the third of his good saves to tip over a shot from former Green player Reece Cameron.

Leverstock will feel they should have got all three points from this game, but Colney’s dogged display deserved a point. The two sides meet again on Saturday in the return fixture at The Recreation Ground. Man of the Match tonight was Scott Bonner, who gave an excellent display despite playing for most of the game with a bandage round his head after a first half injury.

Leverstock Green ended 2017 with a 2-2 draw against Berkhamsted in a top-of-the-table local derby in front of a bumper crowd at Pancake Lane on Saturday. It shows how far this Leverstock side has come over the last couple of months that they ended up disappointed at only getting a point against the unbeaten league leaders. Berkhamsted had been reduced to nine men after 80 minutes but held on through the remaining ten minutes plus an extra ten minutes of stoppage time to gain what for them was a very hard-won point.

The Pancake Lane pitch had taken the rain of the previous couple of days well, and no morning pitch inspection was required. A bigger problem for the players was the strong wind, with both sides hitting corners that cleared everybody in the box in the opening half hour. The visitors had the first effort on goal, with Max Farrelly’s long-range shot going over the bar in the 5th minute. Four minutes later at the other end a pass from Chris Marsh set up Matt Bateman for a shot which Berko keeper Carl Tasker did well to turn round the post. From the resulting corner a thumping shot from Curtis Donaldson brought another good save out of Tasker.

The referee got his notebook out for the first time in the 29th minute, booking Berko’s Kyle Anthony for a foul on Bateman, followed by a booking for Ashley Morrissey for complaining about the first yellow card. After a long period with no clear chances for either side, the game exploded into life with three goals in four minutes. In the 34th minute a pass from Ross Adams set up Bateman to stroke home a neat finish and put Leverstock in front against his former club. Bateman has now scored in the last ten league games he has appeared in.

However, the lead lasted less than two minutes. Morrissey made a run into the box and laid off to Farrelly, who sent a lob over Green keeper Matt Evans to equalise against his former club. Before another two minutes had passed, Ashton Campbell fired home a shot from the edge of the box into the bottom corner of the net to put Berko into a 2-1 lead. Leverstock then had a great chance to equalise almost immediately as Brima Johnson squared into the six yard box for David Lawrence, who didn’t get a proper contact on his shot and sliced it just wide of the post.

Leverstock went into half time trailing 2-1, but with little over three minutes of the second half played they were level again as Brima Johnson hit a stunning shot out of the blue from 25 yards which gave Tasker no chance.

The Green side had a lot more of the ball in the second half and were looking the more likely side to score. Alex Marsh curled an effort just over the bar on 61 minutes, and on 67 minutes Bateman had the ball in the net again after a Johnson shot had been parried, but was flagged for offside. On 67 minutes Chris Marsh hit a great shot from distance which struck the base of the post and went wide.

The controversy began two minutes later when Berko were reduced to ten men, with Steve Hawes being shown a straight red card for a strong challenge, and they were further reduced to nine men in the 80th minute when Jack Stevens got another straight red for a dangerous challenge. There might have been a third red card when Berko skipper Jon Munday reacted angrily to being penalised for a foul on Bateman, but Munday got away with just a yellow card. Mick Vipond was also sent off from the Berko bench.

With their ranks reduced, Berko set aside thoughts of winning the game and dug in. The Leverstock side were unable to make their numerical advantage tell over the closing minutes, with the Berko defence putting in a very determined display to ensure that Tasker did not have a serious save to make.

The two sides remain in 4th and 1st places respectively, although Berko’s lead at the top was reduced by Welwyn Garden City, who beat second-placed Harpenden Town to leapfrog them.

Next game for Leverstock is away to Wembley next Saturday.