Leverstock Green kept their playoff hopes on track with a 3-1 win at Crawley Green in Saturday’s SSML Premier Division fixture. It wasn’t pretty, but it was another crucial three points in the bag.

With St Panteleimon having suddenly withdrawn from the league this week, and their results being expunged from the table, Leverstock found themselves four points down from where they were a few days ago, losing more points than any other club in playoff contention. Leverstock were also without a striker for this game, with Rawn Seale away and Guiseppe Delgaudio starting a three-game suspension. The hugely influential Dan Pett was also unavailable today.

Leverstock had a chance in the opening thirty seconds of the game, with Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica crossing to find Luke Beckwith, but his header went wide of the target. Leverstock had much the better of possession during the early stages, but were unable to create much from it. Stefanoaica was through on goal from a long kick by Josh Bowler, but chose to cut back and square the ball for Ethan Mooney, but his pass was overhit.

It took until the 38th minute for Leverstock to finally make the deserved breakthrough. Ademide Baruwa did well on the left touchline to set up a shot for Rio Beach, which was blocked across goal. Callum Neal laid the ball back for Stefanoaica, who finished with a superb shot into the top corner.

There was an even better goal to come in first half stoppage time as Baruwa played the ball to Mooney, with his back to goal on the edge of the penalty area. Mooney ran along the edge of the area before unleashing a fantastic strike into the top corner which gave former Leverstock keeper Adi Connolly no chance and sent Leverstock into the break with a healthy 2-0 lead.

There was a change at half time, with Stefanoaica being replaced by Lewis Collins. In the 56th minute a pass from Mooney put Collins clear of the defence, but his attempt to square to Beckwith was cut out by Connolly. Leverstock were still looking comfortable with a two goal lead until the 60th minute when that lead was reduced. A poor challenge from Josh Dooley just outside the box earned the Leverstock defender a yellow card and gave Crawley a free kick in a dangerous position. Harry Peterson’s free kick eluded the Leverstock wall and ended up nestling in the bottom corner of Bowler’s net.

There was a chance for Leverstock to re-establish their two-goal lead in the 67th minute as Collins played a neat one-two with Mooney and went clean through, but his shot was turned round the post by Connolly. In the 80th minute Nat Connolly almost struck his first goal for the club with a shot from the edge of the box that was goalbound, but defender Paolo Deritis slid in to deflect it over the bar. Finally in the 85th minute Collins played in an outswinging corner and Callum Neal came in with a thumping diving header to make it 3-1 and give Leverstock some breathing space over the final minutes.

Next up is a home game against Tring Athletic on Thursday night.

Crawley Green (0) 1 (Peterson 60)
1. Adi Connolly, 2. Taylor Keely (12. Trevor Nkata 79 mins), 3. Jimmy Doherty (15. Terry Offeh 64 mins), 4. Paolo Deritis, 5. Caden Barber, 6. Adedoyin Sanni (14. Josh Pearson 74 mins), 7. Nicolae Trif, 8. Kian Wilkes, 9. Jordan Standley (16. Franklin Ojumobi 55 mins), 10. Jake Cowley, 11. Harry Peterson.
Leverstock Green (2) 3 (Stefanoaica 38, Mooney 45+1, Neal 85)
1. Josh Bowler, 2. Callum Neal, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Dan Weeks (15. Paul Marks 80 mins), 5. Josh Dooley, 6. Ryan Carruthers, 7. Luke Beckwith (16. Mikey Havill-Tierney 70 mins), 8. Ademide Baruwa (14. Curtis Dibley 83 mins), 9. Ethan Mooney (19. Scott McGleish 89 mins), 10. Nat Connolly, 11. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica (12. Lewis Collins H/T)

Leverstock Green followed up their 4-1 win last Saturday with another 4-1 win as they toppled the start of play league leaders Crawley Green in a remarkable game at the Brache which saw both goalkeepers red carded.

Fergus Moore was without top scorer Chris Blunden, who was unavailable, and George Mitchell-Gears, serving a one-match suspension for five bookings. However, there was a first appearance of the season for last season’s top scorer Rawn Seale, who has been unavailable to play so far this season.

Leverstock made a bright start to the game, with Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica putting the ball across the face of the Crawley goal in the 5th minute. Two minutes later came the first major incident of the game. Bobby Armstrong played a ball forward for Seale to chase, and home keeper Loris Marcimain came racing out of his area and handled the ball outside the box. The referee adjudged that it was a deliberate handball to prevent a goal, and showed a red card to the keeper. Crawley defender Marius Patru took over in goal for the resulting free kick, and could only watch as Ibrahim Nagheeb drilled a low shot into the corner of the net to open the scoring in the 10th minute.

There was an immediate change of keeper for Crawley, as forward Brandon Carney replaced Patru in goal, and Carney went on to give an impressive display in goal, firstly denying Seale a goal when he was clean through in the 27th minute. In the 30th minute a loss of concentration at the back gifted a chance to the home side, but Josh Adeyieka shot into the side netting.

Leverstock were looking the more likely to score, though, with Stefanoaica having a good run into the box in the 32nd minute but slipping over at the vital moment. Seconds later a shot from Ethan Mooney brought a good save out of Carney as he tipped it onto the post. Seale netted the rebound but was flagged offside. The second goal eventually arrived in first half stoppage time with a neat move started by Armstrong and Rio Beach, and ending with Stefanoaica laying off to Dan Pett, who curled a superb shot out of Carney’s reach into the corner of the net.

Leverstock continued to look impressive in the second half. On 51 minutes a shot from Nagheeb took a deflection and flew inches over the angle of post and bar. Two minutes later a pass from Ryan Carruthers put Seale through again, but Carney produced another good save to turn Seale’s shot away. Crawley’s task was made harder when Patru was sent to the sin-bin in the 58th minute for arguing about an incident at a corner. Leverstock took advantage of their opponents being temporarily down to nine men, adding a third goal in the 65th minute. Mooney crossed from the right edge of the penalty area and Stefanoaica fired home a shot for his third goal in two games.

It was still 3-0 as the game went into the 90th minute. A mistake at the back left Adeyieka through on goal, and as he reached the penalty area his run was ended by a foul challenge from Leverstock keeper Austin Byfield. The referee showed consistency with his earlier decision and again showed the red card to Byfield for preventing a goalscoring opportunity. Scott McGleish, who had only come off the bench two minutes earlier, took over in goal and got a hand to Garry Jones’ penalty, but could not keep it out as Crawley pulled back a consolation goal.

However, there was still another story to come. Callum Moore, 16 year old son of manager Fergus, had come off the bench in the 82nd minute for his senior debut. In the 5th minute of stoppage time, a shot from Elgeniy Daalberg took a wicked deflection and looped up over Carney. The ball came back off the crossbar and Moore was there to nod home the rebound and notch his first senior goal on his debut, restoring Leverstock’s three-goal advantage and completing an impressive 4-1 win. The three points moves Leverstock up to seventh place in the table.

Crawley Green (0) 1 (Jones 90+1 pen)
1. Loris Marcimain, 2. Marius Patru (15. Parys Smith 75 mins), 3. Nicoli Trif, 4. Ernest Njoroge, 5. Garry Jones, 6. Mike Evans (17. Melvin Onu 75 mins), 7. Joe Grossi (14. Tejon Brown 65 mins), 8. Brandy Makuendi (16. Theo Boakye 75 mins), 9. Joe Hankins, 10. Brandon Carney, 11. Josh Adeyieka. Sub not used: 12. Adam Hughes.
Leverstock Green (2) 4 (Nagheeb 10, Pett 45+1, Stefanoaica 65, Moore 90+5)
1. Austin Byfield, 2. Brad Robinson (16. Adrian Pitfield 37 mins), 3. Rio Beach, 18. Bobby Armstrong, 5. Alvin Kyemereh (20. Scott McGleish 88 mins), 6. Ryan Carruthers, 7. Ethan Mooney, 8. Dan Pett (14. Callum Moore 82 mins), 9. Rawn Seale, 10. Ibrahim Nagheeb (15. Ayomide Oke 77 mins), 11. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica (12. Elgeniy Daalberg 68 mins).

Leverstock Green got back to winning ways as they came away from Crawley Green with an impressive result. Fergus Moore had a depleted squad to pick from today, but the players that came in gave a good performance. The turning point of the game was the award of a controversial penalty in the second half.

The Leverstock side got off to a great start as they opened the scoring within two minutes. Lewis Collins made a typically powerful run towards the Crawley box before laying off to Elgeniy Daalberg, who slotted a shot into the bottom corner of the net.

The home side should have been level almost immediately. Jake Tabor beat the Leverstock defence on the right and squared into the box for Taylor Rhiney, who shot wide from right in front of goal. Crawley continued to put pressure on with a series of corners, one of which was tipped onto the bar by Alfie Bonfield.

Daalberg had a chance for his second on 12 minutes, but shot wide after being set up by a run from Isiah Noel-Williams. Crawley had another good chance four minutes later, but Tabor shot across goal and wide. They had an even better chance in the final minute of the half when Adam Hughes was clean through, but again the shot was off target, leaving Leverstock still holding onto their slender lead going into half time.

There were chances at both ends in the opening five minutes of the second half. A header from Adrian Pitfield was awkwardly saved by the home keeper with his feet, while Bonfield turned a deflected shot round the post. On 55 minutes Crawley put together a passing move going from one end of the field to the other, but Rhiney shot over the bar.

The game’s controversial moment came on the hour. Collins went on another purposeful run into the box, and when attempting a quick turn past defender Isiah Brown-Smith, Collins went down. The referee waved away Collins’ appeal for a penalty, but the linesman flagged for the spot kick. The referee went with the linesman’s call, to the consternation of the home side who insisted there was no contact. When the dust settled, Paplamin Jawara stroked the penalty home to put Leverstock into a 2-0 lead.

Leverstock were well on top now and looked likely to further increase their lead. On 67 minutes Daalberg went on a solo run into the box but his shot was turned round the post. Four minutes later Noel-Williams went on a run before setting up Mikkel James, whose shot was parried by the keeper, with Noel-Williams just unable to put away the rebound.

Finally on 74 minutes Collins exchanged passes with James before going on another barrelling run into the box, neatly dinking the ball over the keeper for the third goal.

That was enough for Leverstock to claim their first ever SSML Premier Division win over Crawley Green, and there was even time for the manager to make a cameo appearance from the bench for the final minute of the game.

Crawley Green (0) 0
1. Mark Blower, 2. Adam Hughes (15. Jarrad Isles 74 mins), 3. Isiah Brown-Smith, 4. Chris Crook, 5. Kieran Floyd, 6. Ehizoye Oiffon (17. Luke Andrews 69 mins), 7. Taylor Rhiney (12. Wesley Iroegbu 75 mins), 8. Danny Blackman, 9. Jake Tabor, 10. Charlie Clayton, 11. Joe Hubbard. Subs not used: 14. Tariq Foster, 16. Kevin McManus.

Leverstock Green (1) 3 (Daalberg 2, Jawara 62 pen, Collins 74)
1. Alfie Bonfield, 2. Adrian Pitfield, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Scott McGleish (16. Fergus Moore 90 mins), 5. Paul Marks, 6. Ryan Carruthers, 7. Lewis Collins, 8. Paplamin Jawara, 9. Mikkel James, 10. Isiah Noel-Williams (14. Kian Wilkes 77 mins), 11. Elgeniy Daalberg. Subs not used: 12. Dan Pett, 17. Ethan Mooney.