With Leverstock Green leading 3-0 at half time against a team reduced to ten men and with a makeshift keeper in goal, their supporters might have thought that a comfortable three points was on the cards. However, things are rarely done the easy way at Pancake Lane, and a spirited fightback by Hoddesdon Town left the Green side hanging on for an eventual 3-2 win.

There were a few changes in the Leverstock side tonight, including welcome returns from injury for both Zak Howells and Alex Marsh, both having been out since early August.

Hoddesdon were on top in the early part of the game, although there wasn’t a meaningful effort on goal by either side until Leigh Rose hit a rasping long-range shot just over the bar in the 18th minute for the visitors. However, it was Leverstock who opened the scoring four minutes later from their first serious attack. A great pass from Chris Marsh put David Lawrence through on goal, and Lawrence finished confidently, shooting past keeper Damien Farrow who got a hand to the shot, but couldn’t keep it out.

Two goals in little over a minute put Leverstock in control of the game. Firstly in the 37th minute Brima Johnson played a crossfield ball to Lawrence, who was nearly forty yards out from goal but hit a screamer of a shot that flew past Farrow for a 2-0 lead. Then, almost from the restart, a good passing move ended with Johnson playing another great pass which found Matt Bateman in the box, and Bateman controlled the ball before hitting a low shot past Farrow for the third goal.

An incident in first half stoppage time saw the game threaten to boil over. Bateman was fouled near the halfway line, and as he was on the ground, one or maybe two Hoddesdon players appeared to stamp on Bateman as they went past. This led to a brawl involving players from both sides. The referee showed a straight red card to Leigh Rose, who claimed to have done nothing, and this led to further confrontation as the Hoddesdon management team came out to get involved in an argument with the referee and the Leverstock management team. Hoddesdon manager Paul Halsey was sent from the dugout, before the referee finally restored order and completed the half.

Hoddesdon had to replace keeper Farrow due to illness at half time, with centre-half Louis Bowen taking over in goal. Bowen wasn’t tested in the early part of the half as the Leverstock side seemed content to hang onto their lead rather than seeking to increase it. The lead started to look somewhat fragile when Hoddesdon pulled a goal back in the 62nd minute, as the powerful forward Frazer John burst through the middle of the Green defence to shoot home. Four minutes later the unlikely comeback was definitely on as Hoddesdon pulled another goal back. A free kick into the box wasn’t cleared, and John pounced to volley home his second goal and reduce the deficit to 3-2.

From looking comfortable a few minutes earlier, the Leverstock side was now looking panicked and was giving the ball away far too often, allowing Hoddesdon to push forward with pace. Chris Gosling came close to restoring a two-goal cushion with eight minutes remaining, but his shot was brilliantly tipped over the bar by Bowen, who also pulled off several good saves with his legs in the closing minutes.

Hoddesdon had three up front for the last five minutes, and only a great block denied John from completing his hat-trick and levelling the scores in the last minute. Eventually the Leverstock side got hold of the ball and were able to take it into the corners to run down the clock, and they held out for an impressive three points against a side in the current top six.

Next up for Leverstock is a tough visit to unbeaten Welwyn Garden City on Saturday – the first of two trips to Herns Lane within five days.

Leverstock Green moved up a further three places in the SSML Premier Division as they registered their third league win in a row on Tuesday night. They dominated the game against Tring Athletic throughout, but a late goal for Tring made for a more nervy finish than it should have been.

There was another new signing in the Leverstock side this evening, as left-back Chinua Cole made his debut. The 23-year old has an impressive CV and has previously been with Torquay United, Hampton & Richmond and Eastleigh this season.

Leverstock were looking the better side from the start, and they almost went in front in the 9th minute when Chris Marsh got on the end of a cross from Ross Adams with a header that brought a good save out of Tring keeper Jack Hopwood. However, from the resulting corner Marsh curled the ball into the six-yard box where skipper Shane Wood came diving in with a bullet header to put his side 1-0 up.

Marsh delivered another great cross from a free kick in the 21st minute which found David Lawrence, but his effort deflected wide off a defender. A minute later there was another free kick and another great delivery from Marsh which just eluded Wood as he dived in at the far post. In the 30th minute a pass from Cole put Matt Bateman through on goal, but his shot went across goal and wide. Three minutes later Marsh curled a free kick just wide, and in the 40th minute Marsh played a superb pass to put Adams through, but as Adams tried to take the ball round Hopwood, the keeper snatched the ball from his feet. Tring produced little in the first half, with only a shot from former Green striker Chris Blunden bringing a save out of Reuben Rabstein in the 31st minute.

The second half continued with Leverstock on top. In the 48th minute Marsh robbed a defender and ran at goal, but elected to lay off to Lawrence rather than shoot, and Lawrence’s attempted pass to Bateman went behind the striker. There was a let-off for Leverstock on the hour as Tring went close from a free kick. Chris Vardy’s header hit the post, and as the ball rebounded back across goal Rabstein reacted quickest to clear it. Leverstock added a deserved second goal in the 65th minute, and it was a well-worked move. Luke Nugent’s pass released Bateman to run towards the bye-line, and his low cross into the six-yard box found Chris Gosling arriving to sidefoot home his first goal for the club.

Tring went close with a couple of efforts with 15 minutes remaining, but a revival looked unlikely until three minutes from time when a free kick wasn’t cleared and Blunden slid in to score from close range and reduce the arrears to 2-1. There were now signs of panic in the Green defence, and they almost conceded an equaliser in the first minute of stoppage time when Rabstein flapped at a cross, and two Tring players somehow failed to convert the loose ball with the goal at their mercy. However, Leverstock eventually got the ball back and took it into the corners to play out time, and held out for the win.

There is no game for the Green side this Saturday, but next Wednesday night they travel to Hadley for a league match.

In the classic “game of two halves”, Leverstock Green produced a great comeback to overturn a 2-0 half time deficit and add another three points to their tally with a 3-2 win over Oxhey Jets at Pancake Lane on Saturday. Whilst going out of three cups with some heavy defeats over the last couple of weeks, things have been brighter in the league where Leverstock have now won two straight games and are unbeaten in three.

With manager Scott Dash away for the weekend, assistant Mark Royal was in charge today, and it was a more experienced line-up than in recent games, with Shane Wood back in central defence alongside new signing Scott Bonner, previously with Sun Sports.

The first half was largely uneventful other than the visitors scoring two goals. Oxhey were passing the ball around much the better of the two teams, and eventually it paid dividends in the 22nd minute as Nick Kerley threaded a pass to put Josh Noyes through on goal to slot neatly past Reuben Rabstein for the opener.

Two minutes later Kerley almost added a second but Rabstein did well to tip his shot over the bar. Leverstock came close to a penalty on 27 minutes when David Lawrence ran onto a pass from Chris Marsh and was brought down by Vass Mandeville, but the referee awarded a free kick just outside the box, and Marsh blasted the free kick straight into the wall.

The second goal came as a result of a misunderstanding between Rabstein and Wood as Kerley chased down a long kick from Oxhey keeper Rob Partington. Rabstein came out of his goal, but he and Wood seemed to leave it to each other while Kerley nipped inbetween them to take the ball and run on to slot into the empty net.

Two goals down at half time, Leverstock needed an early response in the second half and duly got one. With three minutes gone they were awarded another free kick just outside the box. Lawrence hit a shot which Partington should have held onto, but the ball came out. In the ensuing scramble both Jonathan Lacey and Ross Adams were chasing the loose ball, but it was Adams who eventually bundled it over the line to put Leverstock back in the game.

The momentum of the game had changed, with Leverstock now doing all the attacking down the slope. They could have equalised on 61 minutes when Lacey picked up the ball after an Adams shot had been blocked and ran through on goal, but his shot was straight at Partington. Sam Nair came off the bench to replace Marsh on 64 minutes, and he was to play a big part in the comeback.

On 64 minutes Leverstock again came close to a penalty when Chris Golding was brought down on the edge of the box, but again the referee awarded a free kick inches outside the box. This time, however, Nair stepped up to take the kick, and drilled a shot straight into the bottom corner of the net to level the scores at 2-2.

It was anyone’s game now, but it was Leverstock who went on to take it with an excellent team goal in the 79th minute. Brima Johnson and Adams started the move which went out to Reynaldo Carbon on the left touchline, and Carbon played a superb pass to put Nair in behind a defender, where he fizzed a low ball across the six yard box for Matt Bateman to come in and sidefoot home from close range.

Leverstock held onto their lead for the remainder of the game for three points which moves them a couple of places up the table, and they will look to continue their good run on Tuesday night when they host Tring Athletic in another SSML Premier Division game.

Leverstock Green finally put three points on the board as they produced an excellent performance to beat Stotfold 3-0 at Pancake Lane in Saturday’s SSML Premier Division game. With their previous win against Sun Sports having been deleted due to Sun’s resignation, this was a crucial win to ensure that the Green stayed off the bottom of the table.

The game could have turned out very differently were it not for a brilliant penalty save by Leverstock’s young goalkeeper Caolan Doyle-Creamer in the 8th minute. As Stotfold forward Meschach Hendrikson made a run into the box, Liam McCrohan put in a sliding tackle which appeared to win the ball, but the referee adjudged that he had gone through the player to get it. Kieran Barnes took the spot kick, which was well-aimed towards the bottom corner just inside the post, but Doyle-Creamer dived full-length to his left to turn it away.

Stotfold went close again in the 17th minute as they hit the post in a scramble following a corner, and Charlie Briggs lashed a shot just over the bar from another corner three minutes later. Leverstock’s first real chance came in the 22nd minute when a pass from Ross Adams put Matt Bateman in on goal, but he shot over the bar. However, a minute later a pass from Chris Marsh found Bateman again, and this time he squared into the six-yard box where David Lawrence put the ball away with a tidy finish to put Leverstock 1-0 up.

Bateman had another chance in the 30th minute when he received a throw from Lawrence with his back to goal, but his shot on the turn was deflected wide. Ten minutes later Lawrence flicked a pass on to Adams, who was through on goal but Stotfold keeper Matt Fallon came out to smother his shot. A minute before the break Bateman was in on goal again and elected to square the ball again rather than shooting, but this time a defender got there before Lawrence. In stoppage time Doyle-Creamer pulled off another good save to gather and hold onto a shot from Barnes.

Five minutes into the second half Leverstock got some crucial breathing space with a second goal. A pass from Adams found Lawrence on the edge of the box, and although Lawrence was initially stopped by a challenge from Anthony Araba, he got up again and was able to squeeze a shot over Fallon for his second of the match.

While Stotfold occasionally threatened on the break in the second half, it was always Leverstock that looked more likely to add further goals. On 69 minutes Luke Nugent put in a dangerous cross to the near post, but Fallon claimed the ball at the feet of Reynaldo Carbon. On 78 minutes Bateman took the ball off Araba and had a clear run at goal, but Araba did well to get back and block Bateman’s eventual shot wide. From the resulting corner Shane Wood came flying in at the far post to meet Carbon’s cross but his header went just wide. Two minutes later Nugent hit a good effort just wide, and shortly afterwards Bateman got on the end of a cross from Nugent but his shot was tipped onto the bar by Fallon.

Leverstock eventually got a deserved third goal a minute from time from a quickly-taken free kick near the halfway line. Brima Johnson floated in a cross which found Bateman on the angle of the six-yard box, and he turned and drilled a low shot under Fallon to finally notch his first goal in a Green shirt.

The win and the clean sheet should be a huge confidence-booster for Scott Dash’s side, who return to cup action on Tuesday night with a home tie against Welwyn Garden City in the first round of the Premier Division Cup.