Leverstock Green produced a fantastic comeback to turn a two goal deficit into a 3-2 win in Tuesday’s Dacorum Derby at Tring Athletic. With 20 minutes to go Fergus Moore’s side were still 2-0 down to the ten men of Tring, but three well-taken goals turned the game on its head.

The omens weren’t good for Leverstock, who hadn’t won at the Grass Roots Stadium for a number of years, and were facing four players in the Tring side who had been at Leverstock for the previous two seasons. In the early stages it looked like luck was against them, as Dan Pett struck a superb free kick in the 12th minute which came back off the crossbar. Three minutes later Tring had a free kick at the other end but Alfie Bonfield saved from Frankie Hercules.

On 20 minutes Leverstock had another chance when a pass from Tomasz Siemienczuk gave Rawn Seale a run at goal, but Tring keeper Jake Alley saved his shot. At the other end on 27 minutes it was Tring’s turn to hit the woodwork as a long-range shot from one of the former Green players Adiel Mannion struck the bar.

The game had been even up to the point when Tring were awarded a penalty in the 38th minute. The view of most in the ground was that James Hall’s tackle hadn’t been a foul, but the referee was adamant in his decision, and former Green skipper John Smith drove home the spot kick to put Tring into the lead. Things got worse for Leverstock four minutes later when a catastrophic mix-up on the halfway line allowed Mannion to run clean through on goal, and he made no mistake with his finish to put Tring into a 2-0 lead.

Another turning point in the game occurred in the 58th minute, when Tring were reduced to ten men. While Pett was receiving treatment after a foul challenge, an off-the-ball incident took place between Kian Wilkes and another of the former Leverstock players Jack Stevens. The incident was spotted by the assistant referee, and the decision was a yellow card for Wilkes and a straight red for Stevens.

Leverstock had been the better side in the second half, but were still not getting the run of the ball in the penalty area, as Tring appeared to be holding onto their lead. There was an unhappy end to the game for James Hall, who was playing his first game of the season while on a break from university in the USA, as he had to be helped from the field with an injury in the 69th minute.

However, in the 71st minute they finally got their deserved goal. Seale played a beautiful curling pass into the path of Siemienczuk, who burst between two defenders to go clean through and slot the ball neatly past Alley to put the Green side back in the game at 2-1.

Two minutes later many in the ground thought that the scores had been levelled as Rio Beach hit a shot that rippled the netting, but it had gone into the side netting. The equaliser was not long in coming though. In the 77th minute Lewis Collins made a great run down the right and put over a cross which flicked up off a defender, and as the ball came down Ollie Lawford got his head to the ball to level the scores at 2-2.

Leverstock were well on top now, and almost took the lead within a minute as Siemienczuk was clean through but his shot was saved by Alley. In the 82nd minute Siemienczuk ran onto a pass from Beach and nodded the ball past Alley, but with the net gaping he lost his balance and couldn’t get his shot on target. The goal was coming, though, and it arrived in the 87th minute. Again it was good work from Collins on the right, and his cross flicked off the head of a defender and dropped for Seale, who connected with a superb first-time volley to put his side into a 3-2 lead.

There could have been another goal in the first minute of stoppage time, but Siemienczuk was denied by a brilliant save by Alley. Leverstock had to hold out through seven minutes of stoppage time, but they did so successfully to register a very impressive win, which was their sixth win from their last seven away league matches. It has been Leverstock’s away form which is mainly responsible for them sitting at the lofty heights of fifth in the table at the end of 2021.

Tring Athletic (2) 2 (Smith 38 pen, Mannion 42)
Team: 1. Jake Alley, 2. Harrison Cornick, 7. Frankie Hercules (6. Jack Seaton 61 mins), 12. Elijah Hearn, 13. George Carbery, 14. Jack Stevens, 15. Harry Seabrook, 10. Adiel Mannion (4. Tommy Twelves 85 mins), 18. Luke Peerless, 19. Godlove Oppong (8. Olly Butler 79 mins), 20. John Smith. Sub not used: 11. Emmanuel Gbejuade.
Leverstock Green (0) 3 (Siemienczuk 71, Lawford 77, Seale 87)
Team: 1. Alfie Bonfield, 2. Harry Bonner (12. Rio Beach 64 mins), 3. James Hall (14. Ollie Cox 69 mins), 4. Dan Weeks, 5. Scott McGleish, 6. Kian Wilkes, 7. Lewis Collins, 8. Dan Pett, 9. Tomasz Siemienczuk, 10. Ryan Carruthers (16. Ollie Lawford 60 mins), 11. Rawn Seale. Subs not used: 17. Adrian Pitfield, 18. Fergus Moore.