Leverstock Green turned in one of their best performances of the season, and claimed their best result of the season as an injury time winner from Adiel Mannion saw them clinch a 1-0 victory away to league leaders Colney Heath. It was a tremendous performance across the board from Matt Harding’s side as they battled for every ball and gave as good as they got against the team nine points clear at the top of the SSML Premier Division, but particular mentions should go to centre-back Ethan Flanagan and keeper Matt Fallon who were both immense today.

With just over a minute played a pass from John Smith gave Ryan O’Sullivan a sniff of goal, but home keeper Connor Sansom was quickly off his line to win the challenge with O’Sullivan. The first shot of the game came from Jack Stevens in the 14th minute and went over the bar, while two minutes later at the other end, Danny May hit a free kick wide for Colney.

The game’s first chance came in the 18th minute from a Leverstock corner. Ollie Cox’s cross was headed away, but only back to Cox, who at the second attempt found Jamie Ovington, who connected with a downward header that brought a good save out of Sansom, and no-one could get on the end of the rebound. The home side’s first near-miss came in the 25th minute with a hooked effort from Brett O’Connor which got past Fallon, but was cleared off the line by Alex Ward. In the 28th minute Fallon saved a header from Jay Lovell, but a minute later pulled off his best save of the game to tip a rasping shot from Spencer Clarke-Mardel over the bar.

The second half continued in the same tightly-competitive vein. There was an early shout for a penalty when a cross from James Hall struck the hand of a defender, but the referee adjudged that it was outside the box and nothing came of the free kick. In the 65th minute Fallon did well again to save a header from a corner, and seconds later Leverstock were away on the break. O’Sullivan was clear down the right and sent over a great cross to Ollie Lawford, who was all alone in the box. Lawford connected with a header that beat Sansom but struck the bar.

Fallon and the Leverstock defence continued to frustrate the home side, and saw off two of the division’s leading scorers in Jon Clements and Chris Blunden, who were both substituted during the second half. As the game reached 90 minutes the Green side and their supporters would have been very happy with the point, but they ended up taking all three.

It was an unfortunate moment for keeper Sansom, who went down to pick up a ball that was coming through to him, but got his studs caught in the turf. Leverstock sub Adiel Mannion was in the right place at the right time to take advantage, nipping in to steal the ball and take it past Sansom, virtually walking it into the empty net to send the Green supporters into raptures. The side held out through the remainder of stoppage time to claim the unlikely but very welcome win.

Leverstock Green threw away two points as a late lapse in concentration saw them squander a two-goal lead in Saturday’s SSML Premier Division game at Colney Heath. With five minutes remaining the Green were deservedly 2-0 up and cruising, but two goals from the home side in little over a minute erased their advantage.

The first half saw the Leverstock side play their best football of the season so far. After a series of promising build-ups they finally took the lead in the 24th minute. The move started with a great ball from Luke Preedy to give Tom Silford a run at goal. Silford cut inside and laid off across goal to set up Chris Blunden, who was blocked before he could get a shot away. The loose ball was picked up by Alex Witham, who hit a shot towards the far post that was blocked, but Jonathan Lacey pounced on the rebound and blasted the ball home to open the scoring.

It was almost 2-0 on 35 minutes when Alex Condon got on the end of a Lacey corner with a header that hit the post and rebounded onto a defender on the line, but fortunately for the home side bounced away from goal. A minute later a pass from Silford put Witham through to hit a shot that went across goal and just wide. In the 40th minute Lacey’s pass put Silford through, but keeper Charlie May did well to turn Silford’s shot round the post. It was a half that Leverstock dominated, but they came in with just a slender 1-0 lead.

They continued to play well in the second half and created more chances. In the 48th minute Lacey went on a solo run past several defenders into the box before having his shot parried by May, but neither Blunden nor Witham could make the most of the rebound. Four minutes later Blunden was through on May and tried to take the ball round the keeper but was forced wide, and his cross back into the box was headed wide by Silford.

The home side should have equalised on 55 minutes when Charlie Hunter’s free kick found Spencer Clarke-Mardle at the far post with a free header, but the Colney skipper headed wide. Things got worse for Clarke-Mardle in the 64th minute when his mistimed tackle brought down Silford in the box. The referee pointed straight to the spot, and despite May getting a hand to it, Lacey’s spot kick put Leverstock into a 2-0 lead.

There was another chance four minutes later when Witham ran onto a pass from Lacey and sent over a cross that just eluded Blunden. Leverstock seemed to be comfortable with their 2-0 lead, but there was a warning in the 79th minute when Clarke-Mardle was through, and Arvydas Kacinkevicius had to save with his legs. There were just over five minutes left when a mistake by Jude Bell near the right touchline allowed Harvey Scott to break clear down the line. Scott ran on to square across goal where Clarke-Mardle came in to finish from close range and put his side back in the game.

The Colney side was fired up now, and little over a minute after the first goal, a cross from the right found Carl Carr free in the box to nod the ball down for Scott to shoot home the equaliser. The game became increasingly feisty over the closing minutes, especially when the referee stopped the game to allow Silford to receive treatment when Colney had a break on. There were no further goals, though, and both sides had to settle for a point each.

The result leaves Leverstock still looking for their first league win after three games, although all three have been away from home, and their next league game is not for at least another three weeks.  Before that they have cup action to focus on, with an away tie at Harpenden Town next Saturday in the Preliminary Round of the FA Cup.

Leverstock Green’s three-match winning run was ended by defeat at Colney Heath in Tuesday night’s SSML Premier Division game. It was a game of few clear chances played on a pitch that had recovered remarkably well from being covered in snow a few days earlier.

Leverstock had the game’s first effort on goal in the 4th minute, but Scott Bonner’s header from a Ross Adams free kick was comfortably gathered by home keeper Steve Cunningham. From then on it was the Colney Heath side that had more of the ball, although they were not creating much to trouble Green keeper Mackenzie Taylor until the 19th minute when Jack Woods cut inside and lashed a shot past Taylor from the edge of the box to give his side a 1-0 lead.

The Green side’s best effort on goal came in first half stoppage time when Reece Cameron, making his first appearance of his second spell at the club having transferred from Colney Heath last week, hit a fierce shot just wide of the post.

Colney Heath added their second goal six minutes into the second half, and it was a simple one as Jimmy Hill came in unchallenged to head home a Woods corner.

Brima Johnson had a good chance to pull a goal back in the 62nd minute from a pass by Jay Caines, but he hit his shot into the side netting. Towards the end of the game the Leverstock side began to push forward more, but the Colney defence was solid and only allowed a couple of efforts from distance, as Chris Gosling hit a shot just over the bar in the 81st minute and man-of-the-match Cameron hit a free kick over the bar five minutes later.

It was a deserved win for the home side, who looked sharper throughout the game, and took their chances to score. Next up for Leverstock is a home game against title favourites Welwyn Garden City on Saturday.