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.

Having dropped back down to zero points following the removal of Sun Sports from the SSML Premier Division table, Leverstock Green got back off the mark again on Saturday with a very hard-fought point from a 2-2 draw with Wembley at Pancake Lane.The visitors will feel that they had more than enough chances to have won the game, but Leverstock hung on and eventually found the goals to come from behind twice.

With skipper Shane Wood out due to the effects of a dead leg, Scott Dash brought in recently-signed twins Curtis and Mitchell Bird, previously with Luton Town Cedars, to play in the centre of defence, and they both acquitted themselves very well on their debuts.

Wembley had the first effort on goal with Alex Witham hitting a shot from the edge of the box just over the bar in the 4th minute. Three minutes later Leverstock went close when Ross Adams slid in to meet a cross from Sam Nair, but just failed to connect with the ball. In the 15th minute a free kick from Nair just eluded Curtis Bird at the far post.

For the rest of the half it was the visitors who were in control. In the 29th minute Zaied Sabti struck the bar from a free kick just outside the box. Five minutes later Charlie Weir rose unchallenged at a corner but headed over the bar. In the 37th minute Tresors-Jordy Mumbiny hit a shot just wide. For all their pressure Wembley didn’t force Green keeper Reuben Rabstein into a save until a minute before the break when Richard Brown hit a shot on target.

The second half started in similar fashion with Wembley pushing forward in numbers, while also making it difficult for the Leverstock forward line by closing down very quickly. Wembley finally took what for them was an overdue lead on the hour, as Alex Witham hit a shot from the edge of the box which beat the partially-unsighted Rabstein into the bottom corner of his net.

However, Leverstock finally started pressing their opponents and winning the ball in midfield, and began to play their way into the game. In the 70th minute Liam McCrohan did very well to get to the bye-line and pull the ball back into the penalty area. Ross Adams helped it on towards the far post where substitute Nick Jackson came in to sidefoot home the equaliser.

Parity was short-lived, however, as within a minute Wembley were back in front at 2-1, again through Witham who found the space on the left edge of the penalty area to hit a shot across goal and into the opposite corner of Rabstein’s net.

Leverstock were not be denied, though, and in the 77th minute from a disputed free kick near the left touchline, Chris Marsh curled in a cross which went all the way through to the Wembley keeper, who could only parry it away, and Curtis Bird pounced to shoot home the loose ball for a debut goal to level the scores at 2-2.

The game could have gone either way from that point, but in the end Leverstock were grateful to come away with a point from a game in which they had spent a lot of time on the back foot. The point keeps them off the bottom of the table, but they now take a two-week break from league action, with two cup games to come. The first of them is next Saturday when they travel to Leighton Town in the second qualifying round of the FA Vase.