A late free kick from Alex Witham earned Leverstock Green a much-needed win after four straight defeats in all competitions. Stotfold went into the game as the league’s bottom side without a win yet, but were tough opponents on a day when the conditions also played a part. A sticky pitch and strong wind meant that it was by no means an attractive game, but Leverstock deserved the win for a dominant second half display.

After little goalmouth action in the early stages, the Green’s first promising moment came in the 19th minute when a pass from Jordon Goode put Alex Witham in with a shooting chance, but his shot deflected off a defender’s leg over the bar. From the resulting corner Marcus Campbell hit a shot over the bar. At the other end two minutes later Jermaine Francis had a good chance for Stotfold, but his shot went across goal and wide. On 31 minutes the home side went close again when Eben Mbola’s low shot was kept out by Green keeper Tristan Thomas.

Leverstock had a strong shout for a penalty in the 39th minute when Luke Nugent appeared to be clearly tripped by defender Luke Burkett, but the referee waved it away. In the ensuing kerfuffle, skipper Jude Bell was shown a yellow card for dissent, one of four yellows received by the Green side today.

In the second half Leverstock had the wind in their favour, and enjoyed much more possession and pressure than they had in the first half, making good use of long throws in the box. On 56 minutes Mark Smith went close with a volley from the edge of the box, and on 64 minutes Smith had another chance when a long throw was cleared to him on the edge of the box, but this time his volley was superbly tipped over the bar by home keeper Matt Fallon. On 73 minutes another long throw caused chaos in the Stotfold box and a shot from Witham was somehow cleared off the line, one of several last-ditch blocks from the Stotfold defence.

On 81 minutes Fallon produced another brilliant save to turn away a shot from Witham. However, three minutes from time Leverstock were awarded a free kick 20 yards out for a handball. Witham stepped up to take the kick, and curled it over the wall and out of Fallon’s reach for a long-overdue Green lead.

From then on it was a case of hanging on for the win, although Leverstock went close to a second in stoppage time when a shot from Smith was parried away by Fallon. It was also a first clean sheet for two months, and a much better display from keeper Thomas than in his debut last week.

On Tuesday night Leverstock begin their defence of the St Mary’s Cup with a first round home tie against Bushey Sports, before next Saturday’s home match against Potton United.

Leverstock Green secured their first win in five games as they came from behind to win 2-1 at Stotfold with two very late goals. It was tough on the hosts, who had put in a very determined performance throughout, but Leverstock’s pressure through the second half finally paid off as they snatched a win from the jaws of defeat.

Two major departures during the week had seen top scorer Matt Bateman snapped up by Berkhamsted and Curtis Donaldson leave for Oxhey Jets, but there were still plenty of attacking options in today’s squad.

There was little threat from either side early on as both sides struggled in wet conditions, with the Roker Park pitch becoming increasingly muddy and slippery as rain continued throughout the match. Stotfold had the game’s first near-miss in the 23rd minute as Dan Harper got on the end of Reece Stokes’ cross with a looping header that Caolan Doyle-Creamer did well to tip over the bar. The resulting corner was cleared for another corner, and this time Joe Ryan delivered a cross to the far post where Luke Burkett came in to net from close range and open the scoring.

Brima Johnson had Leverstock’s first attempt on goal with a shot over the bar in the 28th minute. On 34 minutes Scott Bonner headed over the bar from a Chris Marsh free kick. Two minutes later Marsh delivered another free kick which found Shane Wood in front of goal, but Wood’s header was saved by Stotfold keeper Matt Fallon.

The second half saw Leverstock have much more of the ball, but they weren’t coping too well with the muddy conditions, not moving the ball around quickly enough, allowing the fired-up Stotfold players to close them down. Even so, they still created some good chances to get back into the game. On 63 minutes a ball down the right touchline from Liam McCrohan allowed Jonathan Lacey to get past Harper and race towards the bye-line, where he pulled the ball back for David Lawrence, but Lawrence shot over the bar from six yards out. On 71 minutes Marsh drilled a low corner into the box for substitute Ross Adams, but Adams similarly couldn’t keep his shot under the crossbar.

Ten minutes from time Doyle-Creamer pulled off a crucial save to turn a shot from Ryan round the post and keep the deficit at just one goal. Three minutes later Leverstock went close again when Marsh floated a free kick to the far post, but McCrohan’s header was tipped over the bar by Fallon.

It looked as through Leverstock were going to come away from the game with nothing, but the Green side kept going and continued to push forward, and eventually got their reward two minutes from time. A corner from substitute Casey Linsell was headed away, but Linsell got the ball back and chipped a pass into Lacey, who flicked the ball over Fallon for the long-overdue equaliser.

Leverstock now had their sights on the win, and eventually got the winning goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time, in controversial circumstances. The referee had blown for a foul on Lawrence, but the linesman had his flag up for offside. Initially the referee was going to give Stotfold the free kick, but was eventually persuaded to consult the linesman, who confirmed that the foul had occurred before the offside, and thus it was Leverstock who were awarded the free kick, 20 yards from the Stotfold goal. Marsh took the free kick and drilled a low shot which Fallon saved, but couldn’t hold onto, and Scott Bonner pounced on the loose ball to shoot home the goal that put the Green 2-1 up.

There were still several more minutes of stoppage time to play, and Stotfold might have got an equaliser with a close-range diving header, but it went just wide. Leverstock held on for a very hard-fought win which keeps them six points clear in sixth place, while the unlucky Stotfold side are still at the bottom of the table.

Next Saturday Leverstock are away to Cockfosters.

 

Leverstock Green extended their unbeaten run to five matches with a 1-1 draw at Stotfold in Saturday’s SSML Premier Division game. Leverstock were ahead at half time, but Stotfold got a deserved equaliser and it was a fair result in the end.

There was little in the way of chances in the early stages of the game. Jack Watts headed just wide from a corner in the 18th minute, and Reynaldo Carbon hit a shot over the bar in the 27th minute. Four minutes later came the first real chance of the game as a pass from Carbon put Lewis Davis through on goal, but Stotfold keeper Nathan Godfrey kept the shot out with his boot. In the 33rd minute a great pass from Curtis Donaldson found Luke Marsh in the box, but Godfrey dived at Marsh’s feet to claim the ball before he could get a shot in.

At the other end in the 39th minute Liam Jahn came a long way out of his goal when Stotfold’s Jordan Massey was through, but had to retreat before Massey delivered a ball across the face of goal from a narrow angle which nobody got on the end of. The game looked like going into half time goalless, but a minute from the break Lewis Bowers flicked on a ball from Marsh into the path of Jonathan Lacey, who produced a characteristically cool finish as he slotted the ball past Godfrey to put Leverstock 1-0 up.

Within two minutes of the restart Lacey had another sight of goal but this time Godfrey produced a great save to turn his shot wide. Just over a minute later at the other end Tom Oram set up a good chance for Paul Morris, but he dragged his shot wide.

On the hour Donaldson almost extended his side’s lead with a terrific effort from 30 yards but it flew just over the angle of post and bar. On 71 minutes Donaldson went close again as a pass found him in the box but his curling shot aimed for the bottom corner of the net was turned wide by Godfrey.

Having come close to establishing a two-goal lead, two minutes later Leverstock’s lead was wiped out as a pass across the edge of the penalty area found Jake Long, who drilled home a low shot for Stotfold’s equaliser.

The game could have gone either way after that, but it was Stotfold who came closest to winning it when Ben L’Honore hit the bar with a curling shot three minutes from time.

Next up for Leverstock is a trip to Ryman League side Cheshunt in the quarter-finals of the Herts Senior Cup on Tuesday night.