With 86 minutes played, Leverstock Green looked to be returning to winning ways as they comfortably led 3-0 against a ten man Stotfold side. Little more than six minutes later they were left with just one point as Stotfold pulled off an unlikely comeback. Stotfold’s point was not undeserved, as they had played well and missed a host of chances, but the manner in which the Leverstock side threw away their three-goal lead was very disappointing.

Stotfold could have taken the lead in the opening minute when an ill-advised throw-in put the Green defence under pressure, but Jake Long shot into the side netting from a good chance. At the other end in the 5th minute the visitors’ keeper Matt Fallon pulled off a good save to turn a header from Jonathan Lacey round the post after a great cross from Luke Preedy. From the resulting corner Brima Johnson, Danilson Vicente and Lacey all had efforts in a goalmouth scramble but none of them could put the ball away.

Stotfold had another great chance in the 9th minute when a pass through the middle put Daniel Bond clean through. Mark Berg stayed in his area, giving Bond the chance to send a lob over him, but the ball bounced just wide.

Leverstock took the lead in the 21st minute. A ball forward from Preedy just eluded Lacey, but defensive hesitation allowed Curtis Donaldson to pounce on the loose ball and burst clear. Donaldson could have taken it on himself, but instead chose to square for Lacey to slot home the opening goal.

There was another chance for Stotfold on 30 minutes when they won the ball near the corner flag, but the near-post header from the resulting cross was wide. Five minutes later they had a good shout for a penalty when Kendall Allen clearly handled in the box from a corner, but the referee didn’t see it.

Two minutes before the break a pass from Lewis Davis put Lacey through on goal, but he was brought down on the edge of the penalty area by a push from defender Karl Dean. After consulting his linesman, the referee awarded a free kick just outside the box, but showed a straight red to Dean for denying the goalscoring opportunity. It proved as good as a penalty though, as Donaldson blasted the free kick through the wall to send Leverstock into the break with a 2-0 lead.

Another Stotfold chance went begging on 52 minutes when Tom Oram had a free header from a corner, but put it over the bar. Leverstock were forced into a change on 56 minutes when Preedy limped off injured, to be replaced by Ben Darby, returning from a long injury lay-off. The game looked to be over when Leverstock scored their third goal in the 65th minute, a pass from Ross Adams putting Donaldson through to send a lob over Fallon which just found the net despite the attempts of a defender to slid in and clear it.

Leverstock made two further changes at the back midway through the half, although with all three subs having been used, both Darby and Davis were struggling with cramp towards the end of the game. The 3-0 lead was still intact when Stotfold won a corner in the 87th minute. Drew Cardines curled in an inswinger that Berg realised too late was heading for the top corner, and despite backpedalling he was unable to prevent the ball creeping in just under the angle for an unusual goal which, at this stage, still looked like just a consolation.

However, the Stotfold side sensed the chance for a comeback and upped their game, while the Leverstock defence had switched off. In the 89th minute Bond hit a shot which went just over the bar. In the first minute of stoppage time the Green defence was suicidally playing the ball around in their own half and gave it away, and a couple of passes later George Bates was shooting home a second Stotfold goal. Little over a minute later they pushed forward with pace again against a shellshocked Green defence and Cardines slotted home the equaliser. There was barely time to restart the game before the referee blew the final whistle on an extraordinary ending.

The result ended a run of three straight defeats for the Leverstock side, although it will feel like another defeat. It was the fourth time in the space of six weeks that Leverstock have failed to beat a side reduced to ten men for a significant portion of the game. Next up is a home game against Biggleswade United on Saturday.

 

 

Leverstock Green came away from Saturday’s home game against Colney Heath with nothing, and it was all they deserved from a performance that manager Scott Dash described as “not good enough”. For the second time in a matter of weeks, Leverstock ended up on the losing side against a team reduced to ten men for half the game.

The early stages of the game were very scrappy, with neither side able to get an effort on target. In the 12th minute a cross from Tremayne Charles went across the face of goal and just eluded Lewis Bowers at the far post, and in the 18th minute Jonathan Lacey shot over the bar. A minute later at the other end Jamie Eames shot just over the bar after beating Karl Thomas from a long goal kick. Two minutes later Luke Dolan had the closest effort of the game with a shot that dipped just over the bar.

Five minutes before half time Colney Heath were reduced to ten men when Lawrence Olorunfemi was shown a straight red card. The offence was a retaliatory kick at George Biggadike which was spotted by the linesman.

Leverstock were attacking down the slope with a man advantage in the second half, but the performance was no better than the first, with players holding onto the ball too long, poor passing and a lack of ideas. Colney Heath took the lead in the 56th minute somewhat out of the blue as Eames hit a shot along the ground from 25 yards which Liam Jahn seemed to have covered, but couldn’t keep out.

Colney keeper Charlie May made his first serious save of the game in the 64th minute, tipping over a shot from Luke Preedy, but it was only over the closing minutes that Leverstock began to look like scoring. On 83 minutes a pass from Danilson Vicente allowed Curtis Donaldson to take the ball round May, but he could only put it into the side netting from a narrow angle.Two minutes later Thomas crossed from deep and Charles connected with a looping header that was just over the bar. In the 4th minute of stoppage time Bowers came agonisingly close to an equaliser with a shot from 20 yards that hit the post and bounced out.

Further into stoppage time Leverstock themselves were reduced to ten men when Jack Watts was shown a red card for foul and abusive language, and Colney Heath held on for a win that they certainly deserved.

It was a particularly disappointing display coming on the back of excellent results at Hertford and Leighton, with the return of Brima Johnson being just about the only positive from the game. Next Saturday Leverstock face a visit to league leaders London Colney.

A goal early in the second half was enough for Leverstock Green to continue their good run with a 1-0 win over Holmer Green in Tuesday night’s SSML Premier Division game.

Both sides will feel they should have made more of their chances in this game, and Holmer Green in particular had numerous near-misses in the first half. On 19 minutes Mark Berg kept out a shot from Tom Hunt, and three minutes later produced a double save to deny both Matt Wooster and Hunt from close range. A minute later Hunt slid in to connect with another good chance but scooped the ball over the bar.

Leverstock’s first near-miss came in the 30th minute when good work from Danilson Vicente sent Tremayne Charles away down the left wing. Charles squared the ball into the penalty area but Jonathan Lacey couldn’t get his effort on target. Three minutes later Holmer missed another great chance when a mistake from Kendall Allen left Greg Deer through on goal, but he pulled his shot wide. On 35 minutes Vicente set up Charles with a chance but he hit the ball across goal and wide.

Leverstock’s play in the first half had been disjointed, but they were much-improved in the second half. Five minutes after the restart a move involving Zak Howells and Lewis Davis ended with Vicente laying off on the edge of the box to Charles, who drilled a low shot in the corner of the net to give Leverstock a 1-0 lead.

Five minutes later it could have been 2-0 when a defender failed to clear Curtis Donaldson’s ball into the box, leaving Davis with a clear shot, but keeper Sam Butcher did well to turn his shot round the post. On 63 minutes Leverstock had a free kick in a similar position to where Donaldson had scored from on Saturday. Donaldson curled another superb effort over the wall but this time it hit the underside of the bar and rebounded away to safety.

The chances continued to come for Leverstock, with Charles and Vicente combining to set up Lacey on 68 minutes, but his shot was straight at Butcher. Charles hit a shot just over the angle of post and bar two minutes later, and Lacey had a shot from distance turned round the post by Butcher. Holmer’s best chance of an equaliser came in the 75th minute when Deer got up unchallenged to meet a free kick but headed straight at Berg. They had other half-chances but were unable to hit the target from any of them. Reynaldo Carbon came closest to adding a second goal for Leverstock in the closing stages when his dipping shot in the 84th minute was just over the bar.

The win takes Leverstock up two places to 9th in the table with a healthy points tally of 43, while Holmer were left looking nervously over their shoulders at the bottom two. Next up for Leverstock is an away game at Wembley on Saturday.

Leverstock Green earned another three points as an injury-time strike from Jonathan Lacey clinched a 3-2 win over Edgware Town in Saturday’s SSML Premier Division thriller at Pancake Lane.

Scott Dash was again missing a few players due to suspension and unavailability, mostly at the back, and Luke Nugent was drafted in from the under-18s to make his first team debut at right-back.

Tremayne Charles looked the main threat for the Green side in the early stages, making a run to the bye-line and chipping the ball across the face of goal in the 9th minute,and shooting over the bar four minutes later after running onto a pass from Ross Adams. In the 21st minute Edgware were penalised for a foul on Danilson Vicente which was just outside the box, but Curtis Donaldson produced one of his trademark free kicks, curling the ball into the top corner of the net to put Leverstock 1-0 up.

Donaldson almost made it 2-0 a minute later with a shot from 25 yards, but visiting keeper Cain Davies turned it round the post. Edgware equalised somewhat against the run of play in the 25th minute with a bolt from the blue. Nyu Bogaire connected with a tremendous first-time shot from distance which flew into the top corner of the net and gave Mark Berg no chance.

Leverstock were denied again in the 33rd minute when Charles ran onto a pass from Vicente, but his shot was saved by Davies. Three minutes later the game was turned around completely when Dan Pett played a low ball into the box to Ethan Mooney, who turned on the edge of the six-yard box and slotted a shot under Berg to put Edgware 2-1 up.

Edgware took their lead into the break, but within two minutes of the restart Leverstock were level. Lacey played a fine pass to put Adams through on goal, and Adams produced a composed finish for the equaliser. From then on either side could have won an end-to-end game, although it was Edgware who had the better chances. Berg saved with his boot to deny Adem Ali on 53 minutes and Jay Molloy ballooned the ball over the bar from a good chance on 67 minutes. Two minutes earlier Nugent had been replaced by Shane Wood, making his return from injury.

Edgware somehow failed to score from a goalmouth scramble in the 77th minute, hitting the post and having an effort saved from close range. On 86 minutes Casey Linsell headed off the line and seconds later Fergus Moore headed just over the bar. Over the closing minutes Leverstock had their chances, with Oliseh Okwudi and Wood both going close from good opportunities. In the 89th minute Donaldson stood over another free kick, a few yards further out than his earlier effort. This time Davies parried away Donaldson’s effort, and Wood put the rebound into the side netting.

The game went into stoppage time with the scores still level, and in the opening minute Edgware missed another great chance with a shot going wide from the edge of the box. They ended up paying the price as Leverstock found a winner with three minutes of stoppage time played. Carbon made a run into the box, but his shot was saved. Lacey put the ball across the face of goal, but it eluded Charles, who was running towards the near post. Edgware still couldn’t clear, and Charles was able to get the ball across across goal, and this time it dropped for Lacey, who drilled a low shot into the corner of the net to win the game 3-2.

It was tough on Edgware, who probably deserved a draw, but for Lacey it was his 20th first team goal of the season, a remarkable achievement for a player who is still only 17 years old.

There is little time for Leverstock to rest on their laurels, as they are back in action on Tuesday night, at home to Holmer Green in another SSML Premier Division game.