Preston Park

Harefield United F.C.

Preston Park,
Breakspear Road North,
Harefield,
Middx,
UB9 6NE.

(A) Harefield United

Leverstock Green continued their run in the Gladwish Challenge Trophy as a goal in each half was enough for a 2-0 win at Harefield United in Tuesday night’s Third Round tie.

Elgeniy Daalberg returned to action after a three-match absence, and with just over two minutes played Daalberg received a pass from Rio Beach, produced a lightning turn to escape the last defender, and sprinted clear before steering the ball past home keeper Reece Mallett to get Leverstock off to a fantastic start.

Leverstock had much the better of the game in the early stages and had chances to increase their lead. In the 13th minute a free kick from Dan Pett was met with a glancing header from Ethan Mooney at the near post which drifted just wide of the far post. A minute later Rawn Seale was through on goal but his early shot was pulled wide of the target. On 22 minutes Pett floated another free kick into the box. A backwards header from Dan Weeks was parried by Mallett and Kian Wilkes’ effort from the rebound was blocked.

The chances continued to come. On 28 minutes a cross from Rio Beach almost produced an own goal as defender Ano Mano chested the ball inches wide of the post. A minute later Beach had an effort from a free kick outside the box which was awkwardly beaten away by Mallett with his legs. On 32 minutes a pass from Seale put Mooney through, but again his eventual shot was off target. Having failed to increase their lead, the Green side were on the back foot for the final ten minutes of the half as Harefield pushed forward, but were unable to produce an effort to trouble Alfie Bonfield.

Leverstock continued to play well in the second half. Two minutes in a pass from Beach gave Seale a run at goal, but he was foiled by a challenge from Mallett on the edge of the box. On the hour Seale had the ball in the net, but it was disallowed for a foul on Mallett. In the 69th minute a long ball out of defence from Scott McGleish found Seale on the edge of the box, and Seale took the ball past Mallett, but with the angle narrowing his effort at goal went over the bar.

There was a rare scare at the other end in the 75th minute when an overhead kick from Zak Jackson struck the post, but Leverstock continued to dominate. Two minutes later Mooney was clean through on goal but was pulled back by substitute Luke Simpson. It looked like a clear case of a red card for Simpson, who had only been on the pitch for two minutes, but the result was only a yellow card and the resulting free kick was hit over the bar.

There was yet another chance in the 82nd minute. A square ball from Ollie Cox found Seale, who was brought down in the box by Simpson. The referee awarded the penalty, but as Wilkes stepped up to take the spot kick, Mallett guessed the right way and dived to turn the ball round the post.

Three minutes later there was another poor tackle from Paul Underwood which brought down Nagheeb Ibrahim just outside the box, and again the verdict was only a yellow card. However, after Ibrahim had received treatment, Cox stepped up to take the resulting free kick. Cox’s effort was straight at Mallett, but the keeper failed to hold onto the ball, and Seale followed in to net the rebound for the decisive second goal, one that was very much deserved for Seale’s tireless performance.

Leverstock are now into the quarter-finals, where they face a trip to Hadley next Tuesday night.

Harefield United (0) 0
1. Reece Mallett, 2. Austin Schofield (12. Luke Simpson 75 mins), 3. Steven Green, 4. Ben Stallard (14. George Murphy 84 mins), 5. Ano Mano, 6. Sean Mangan, 7. Zak Jackson, 8. Tashan Jordan, 9. Donell Watt (15. Nicolas Hounto 67 mins), 10. Louis Bircham, 11. Paul Underwood. Subs not used: 16. Callum Neal, 19. Jacob Ballheimer.
Leverstock Green (1) 2 (Daalberg 3, Seale 88)
1. Alfie Bonfield, 2. Jack Allen, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Dan Weeks, 18. Scott McGleish, 6. Kian Wilkes, 7. Ethan Mooney (14. Ollie Cox 79 mins), 8. Dan Pett, 9. Rawn Seale, 10. Ryan Carruthers (15. Nagheeb Ibrahim 56 mins), 11. Elgeniy Daalberg (12. Lewis Collins 59 mins). Subs not used: 16. Paul Marks, 17. Adam Page.

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(A) Harefield United

Leverstock Green made it four wins from five league games, and maintained their average of three goals per game as they pulled off another impressive result from Tuesday night’s visit to Harefield United. This time Fergus Moore’s side had to show patience, as despite dominating the game throughout, they did not find the net until the final 20 minutes of the game.

Leverstock went close to opening the scoring in the 5th minute when Scott McGleish hit a goalbound shot which was turned away by keeper Reece Mallett making a low dive to his left. Ollie Lawford was denied a goal in the 16th minute, having lobbed the onrushing Mallett the ball was bouncing into the net until defender Adam Murphy made a last-ditch clearance off the line.

The game got a bit scrappy in the latter stages of the half, with both Lawford and McGleish hitting efforts from distance which were just off-target, and Leverstock almost presenting Harefield with a goal after uncharacteristically giving the ball away in their own box, only for Junayd Shawwal to head wide from the resulting cross.

The Green side started the second half as impressively as they had started the first. In the opening minute of the half McGleish broke away before feeding Ethan Mooney out on the right, and Mooney ran on to deliver the perfect cross to find Paplamin Jawara at the far post, but Jawara’s sidefooted finish went across goal and wide. In the 52nd minute Brima Johnson floated a free kick into the box to find McGleish, whose header across goal was met by a header from Paul Marks which went inches wide.

On 63 minutes Isiah Noel-Williams showed great determination to force his way into the box and hit a shot which was kept out by the boot of Mallett, the rebound just eluding Lawford, who was replaced by Rawn Seale shortly afterwards. Within two minutes of coming on Seale had an effort at goal which went over the bar.

The Leverstock side could have been forgiven for feeling frustrated at not having found the net yet, but they kept pushing forward and finally got their deserved goal in the 73rd minute. Jawara’s pass from his own half found Mooney, who took advantage of a slip from the chasing defender to deliver the ball into the six-yard box where it was blocked by Mallett, however it was Noel-Williams who got to the rebound first and smashed the ball home from close range.

The confidence was flowing through the Green side, and on 81 minutes they doubled their lead. Seale made a run down the left and his cross to the far post found Mooney, who had his back to goal but showed the composure to turn and shoot low past Mallett into the bottom corner.

The game could have been back in the balance with three minutes left as Harefield pulled a goal back. Alfie Bonfield kept out an effort from Femi Ogunsola, but Shawwal bundled home the rebound. However, straight from the kick-off Leverstock attacked again, and substitute Lewis Collins’ barreling run into the box was ended when he was bundled over. The referee awarded the penalty, and Jawara fired the spot kick into the top corner of the net to restore his side’s two-goal advantage.

That proved to be enough for a very well-deserved win, and Leverstock will look to continue their good league form this Saturday when they travel to Haringey to meet Premier Division newcomers New Salamis.

Harefield United (0) 1 (Shawwal 87)
Team: 1. Reece Mallett, 2. Dave Polcher, 3. Steven Green, 4. Harry McCorkell, 5. Austin Schofield (16. Louie Bunce 27 mins), 6. Adam Murphy, 7. Petrit Krasniqi (12. Richard Pacquette 66 mins), 8. Scott Davies, 9. Courtney Austin (15. Femi Ogunsola 80 mins), 10. George Grange, 11. Junayd Shawwal. Subs not used: 14. Callum Neal, 17. Hekmat Alizai.

Leverstock Green (0) 3 (Noel-Williams 73, Mooney 81, Jawara 88 pen)
Team: 1. Alfie Bonfield, 2. Adrian Pitfield, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Paul Marks, 5. Brima Johnson, 6. Ryan Carruthers, 7. Ethan Mooney (15. Lewis Collins 85 mins), 8. Paplamin Jawara, 9. Scott McGleish (14. Mikkel James 82 mins), 10. Ollie Lawford (16. Rawn Seale 64 mins), 11. Isiah Noel-Williams. Subs not used: 12. Kian Wilkes, 17. Dan Weeks.

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Harefield United vs Colney Heath

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(A) Harefield United

Leverstock Green’s hopes of progressing in the Gladwish/SSML Spring Cup are hanging by a thread after a heavy defeat at Harefield United in their third group game.

The game was evenly contested early on, with Adi Connolly pushing a long-range shot from Austin Schofield over the bar in the 13th minute, and Adiel Mannion hitting a shot from distance just over the bar at the other end four minutes later. Leverstock were forced into a change after half-an-hour with Lewis Collins picking up an ankle injury in a challenge with the Harefield keeper, and being replaced by Ollie Lawford, who himself needed treatment just seconds after coming on after a strong challenge.

Harefield took the lead in the 36th minute from a free kick near the corner flag. Samuel Shaw may have been attempting a cross rather than a shot, but the ball curled over the outstretched arm of Connolly and straight into the net. A second Harefield goal three minutes later put them firmly in control. This time Shaw was provider, threading a pass to Richard Pacquette, who slipped the ball over Connolly into the net.

The home side should have been reduced to ten men a minute before the break when Thomas Payne aimed a wild kick at John Smith, but the referee showed only a yellow card.

Leverstock needed an early goal in the second half to get back into the game, but seldom looked like being able to create one. Just after the hour Connolly made two great saves in quick succession to keep his side in with a glimmer of hope, but the sin-binning of Mickey Shuttlewood for ten minutes did not help their cause.

Harefield clinched the game with a third goal on 79 minutes as Pacquette met a corner at the near post with a glancing header into the far corner of the net, and just as in the first half they followed it with another goal three minutes later as Lenny Farhall was put through to slot past Connolly.

Leverstock’s final group game is away to London Lions in two weeks. They still have a mathematical chance of finishing in the top two, but they require the results of next weekend’s two group games to go their way.

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(A) Broadfields United

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(A) Harefield United

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(A) Harefield United

The reserves were beaten 1-0 at Harefield United in Thursday night’s Suburban League match. Fadil Padori scored the winning goal for the home side in the second half.

Starting XI:
Matt Fallon
Charlie Fisher
James Hall
James Hutchins
Ollie Lawford
Reece Morley
Bryn Rigarlsford
Toki Sule
Brad Tobin
Kian Wilkes
Jacob Wylde
Substitute:
Dillon Hemington

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