On a very wet Tuesday night in Tring, Leverstock Green FC came away with a well-earned point. Although Leverstock had the game’s better chances and will feel they should have won the game, a point was a decent result against a Tring side that have been in good form recently and in conditions that were becoming near-farcical by the end.

After a dry few days, the rain started a couple of hours before kick-off, but the referee was happy to start the game after some areas were forked. Leverstock Green FC made a bright start to the game and could have taken an early lead. In the 7th minute a shot from Luke Beckwith was turned round the post by Tring keeper Josh Allen. From the resulting corner Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica got his head to the ball, but Allen produced another great save to tip it over the bar. The Leverstock pressure continued as Callum Neal hit a shot from the edge of the box that went just over the angle of post and bar. Neal was close again in the 17th minute with a shot from another corner that went just wide.

With Leverstock not having turned their early promise into goals, they were vulnerable to a goal against the run of play, and so it proved in the 21st minute. Godlove Oppong got on the end of a corner with an effort that seemed to bounce up and over the reach of Liam Gauthier, although there were protests that Gauthier was being impeded as he tried to reach for the ball.

Leverstock Green FC continued to put pressure on the Tring goal, but they were denied again by Allen in the 35th minute as he turned a shot from Guiseppe Delgaudio round the post. However, two minutes later Ryan Carruthers delivered a superb cross from distance into the box, and Delgaudio got on the end of it with a thunderous header to level the scores at 1-1 against his former club.

Gauthier produced a good save late in the half to turn a shot from Harry Shepherd round the post and send the teams into the break on level terms.

The rain did not relent, and indeed became ever heavier during the second half. With conditions becoming increasingly difficult underfoot, chances were few and far between at both ends, but Leverstock were still able to put together some impressive passages of play. In the 63rd minute Delgaudio went close again with a header from Neal’s cross that went just wide. At the other end Tring threatened occasionally, but their threat was well-handled by the Leverstock defence and the sure hands of Gauthier when he was called into action.

By the end of the game there were sticky patches all over the pitch and spray coming up every time the ball hit the ground. However, Leverstock Green FC almost won it in the 89th minute with a moment of quality from Carruthers, who hit a low shot from distance which was goalbound, but Allen just got a hand to it to turn it round the post. It would have been tough on either side to lose the game at the death, and the draw was a fair result in the end.

Tring Athletic (1) 1 (Oppong 21)
1. Josh Allen, 3. Adam Sawyer, 4. Greg Deer, 8. Jack Harvey, 10. Max Herclues, 13. George Carbery, 14. Elijah Hearn, 16. Dave O’Connor, 18. Godlove Oppong, 19. Harrison Mead, 20. Harry Shepherd. Subs used: 6. Noah Butler, 7. Frankie Hercules, 12. Benjamin Kakembo.
Leverstock Green (1) 1 (Delgaudio 37)
1. Liam Gauthier, 2. Callum Neal, 3. Rio Beach, 4. Dan Weeks, 5. Paul Marks (15. Josh Dooley 49 mins), 6. Ryan Carruthers, 7. Luke Beckwith, 8. Dan Pett (14. Lewis Collins (82 mins), 9. Guiseppe Delgaudio (12. Ademide Baruwa 76 mins), 10. Nat Connolly (16. Ethan Mooney 72 mins), 11. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica. Sub not used: 17. Brad Robinson.

 

Leverstock Green came away with a point from their visit to Tring Athletic on Holiday Tuesday, and it was a very hard-fought point in terrible conditions. Goalkeeper Austin Byfield was the hero for Leverstock, pulling off a string of brilliant saves to keep the game level and ensure that his side continued their unbeaten league run. For both sides it was their first game for three weeks after the postponements caused by the recent cold snap.

There was a debut for new signing Danny May, an experienced defender who started at Northampton Town before going on to play for a number of non-league clubs, including Hemel Hempstead Town, Royston Town and Colney Heath. There was also a return from injury for Luke Durnin, making his first appearance since September, although his return was cut short after a head injury in the first half. Luke Beckwith also made his first appearance since September, having been playing for AFC Dunstable in the meantime.

It was May who had Leverstock’s first effort on goal of the game, hitting a shot from distance just over the bar in the third minute. There was a scare for Leverstock in the 16th minute when Bogdan Marian put the ball across the face of their goal, but no-one was on the end of it. There was another escape two minutes later when the ball was again in the Leverstock six-yard box but George Carbery couldn’t get his boot on the ball.

Leverstock’s best effort of the game came in the 35th minute when Chris Blunden’s shot from the edge of the box struck the bar. Byfield pulled off the first of his great saves in the 44th minute, turning a close-range shot from Godlove Oppong over the bar. In stoppage time Leverstock went close again when former Green keeper Oscar Frost flapped at a corner, but Eli Hearn headed the loose ball off the line. Further into stoppage time Byfield pulled off another great save as he dived full-length to turn a free kick from Marian round the post.

The conditions deteriorated in the second half with heavy rain being blown sideways across the pitch by strong winds. Leverstock were playing up the slope and had difficulty keeping the ball out of their own half for any length of time. There was a succession of chances for Tring, but Byfield denied Leo Farruch three times, twice at his near post and once with his feet. There were also a number of goalmouth scrambles, but the Leverstock defence never stopped battling and kept the ball out.

Having not created any chances during the second half, Leverstock had a chance to win the game in stoppage time as Blunden got past a defender in the box and had a shooting opportunity open up for a second, but his eventual shot was off target. In the end Leverstock were very happy to come away with a point from a game where they were under the cosh for long periods in the second half by a very good Tring side. Leverstock and Tring remained fifth and sixth respectively in the SSML Premier Division table after today’s results.

Tring Athletic (0) 0
1. Oscar Frost, 2. Eli Hearn, 5. Charlie Waller, 6. Lenny Armstrong, 8. Jack Harvey, 11. Bogdan Marian, 13. George Carbery (7. Frankie Hercules 72 mins), 17. Leo Farruch, 4. Greg Deer, 19. Godlove Oppong (9. Guiseppe Delgaudio 69 mins), 20. Harry Shepherd. Subs not used: 3. Adam Sawyer, 18. Harrison Mead, 14. Davide Poobe.
Leverstock Green (0) 0
1. Austin Byfield, 2. Brad Robinson (16. Sean Walsh 84 mins), 3. Rio Beach, 4 Luke Durnin (12. Luke Beckwith 28 mins), 5. Alvin Kyemereh, 6. Danny May, 7. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica (14. Elgeniy Daalberg 77 mins), 8. Dan Pett, 9. Chris Blunden, 10. Ryan Carruthers, 11. Ethan Mooney. Subs not used: 15. Ayomide Oke, 20. Scott McGleish.