The Nolan Oils Ground

Ardley United F.C.

(A) Ardley United

It’s four league games without a win for Leverstock Green, who took an early lead in Saturday’s match at Ardley United, but fell to a 3-1 defeat after a disappointing second half display.

It was a match played on a difficult bobbly surface, and Leverstock were playing up the slope in the first half. They got off to a great start, and could have scored with only a minute played as a run from Richard Ennin set up John Shamalo with a chance, but his shot was saved. In the 6th minute Ryan Carruthers played a pass forward which home keeper Ben Hoy came out of his area to meet. Hoy attempted to head the ball away, but only headed it down to the feet of Chris Blunden, who made no mistake in slotting the ball into the empty net to put the Green 1-0 up.

However, the home side levelled in the 15th minute. Conal Rogan sent over a low cross from the bye-line which should have been cleared, but two Leverstock defenders left it to each other to clear, and Mason Courtney needed no second invitation to nip inbetween them and drill home a shot past Austin Byfield for the equaliser.

Ardley could have had a second a minute later but were denied by a goalline clearance from a corner. Leverstock went close again in the 22nd minute when Ennin and Blunden combined to set up Rio Beach, but he couldn’t get his boot on it. A corner from Carruthers in the 31st minute found Ennin in space at the far post, but he volleyed over the bar. There was another big chance in first half stoppage time as Shamalo ran in to meet a Carruthers free kick but put his shot just wide of the post.

The teams went in with the scores level after an evenly-contested half. A change at half time saw Luke Beckwith replace the injured Shamalo. With the slope in their favour Leverstock would have had hopes of going on to win the game, but they made no headway early on. In the 56th minute Ardley played a free kick into the Green six-yard box. Again the ball could have been cleared, but wasn’t and one of Ardley’s two players callled Lewis Gabbidon pounced to shoot his side into a 2-1 lead.

Leverstock continued to labour, pushing forward without creating anything and rarely getting the rub of the green from any deflections inside the Ardley box. There was a glimmer of hope when Alvin Kyeremeh got his head to another Carruthers free kick in the 66th minute, but Hoy gathered the ball.

A third Ardley goal in the 75th minute just about sealed the game for them. Leverstock conceded possession in their own half and seconds later a cross was coming in for Anaclet Odhiambo to finish from close range.

Leverstock finished the game with ten men as Ennin was sin-binned in the 87th minute, just before a header from Kyeremeh brought a great save out of Hoy to tip the ball over the bar. A Leverstock comeback never looked likely, though, their second half performance having put them out of contention.

Ardley United (1) 3 (Courtney 15, Gabbidon 56, Odhiambo 75)
1. Ben Hoy, 2. James Casberd, 3. Elliott Ricketts, 4. Sam McConnell, 5. Lewis Gabbidon, 6. Lewis Gabbidon, 7. Mason Courtney, 8. Declan Benjamin, 9. Anaclet Odhiambo (14. Drew Wilson 80 mins), 10. Conal Rogan (15. Ellis Hercules 61 mins), 11. Morgan Williams (12. Callum McNish 61 mins). Sub not used: 16. Jacob Roberts.
Leverstock Green (1) 1 (Blunden 6)
1. Austin Byfield, 2. Adrian Pitfield, 3. Kurainashe Musanhi, 4. Dan Pett, 5. Alvin Kyeremeh, 6. Ryan Carruthers (15. Danny May 80 mins), 7. Rio Beach, 8. Ethan Mooney (14. Elgeniy Daalberg 69 mins), 9. Chris Blunden, 10. John Shamalo (12. Luke Beckwith H/T), 11. Richard Ennin. Subs not used: 16. Ayomide Oke, 17. Raheem Khan.

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(A) Ardley United

Leverstock Green’s stuttering start to 2022 continued as they lost their second straight match. Saturday’s SSML Premier Division fixture at Ardley United was played in very difficult conditions, with the already heavy pitch made even worse by another downpour an hour before kick off, and with two penalty decisions going against them Fergus Moore’s side certainly didn’t get the rub of the green in this game.

There was a welcome return from injury for both Elgeniy Daalberg and Paplamin Jawara, with the former starting the game. The early stages of the game were dominated by the home side, playing down their considerable slope, but Alfie Bonfield was on hand to keep out Declan Benjamin’s shot in the second minute, and a free kick from Morgan Williams in the 9th minute.

A through ball in the 18th minute gave Rawn Seale the glimpse of a chance as he burst between two defenders, but couldn’t get proper contact on his shot. The game was largely scrappy for the remainder of the half, with little goalmouth action at either end, but just when it looked as though Leverstock would get to half time on level terms, they were on the wrong end of a harsh penalty decision. Ollie Cox was penalised for handball while running away from goal and with the ball kicked straight at him. Even so, it looked as though Leverstock had got away with it when Bonfield saved Liam Talboys’ spot kick, but Talboys was quickest off the mark to get to the rebound and stick the ball away at the second attempt.

Leverstock had the slope in their favour in the second half, but were still struggling to find the final ball to create a clear chance. Shortly after the introduction of Jawara in the 59th minute, they finally made a breakthrough, although with some controversy. Seale chased a through pass and got to it at the same time as keeper Freddie Lapworth, and managed to toe-poke the ball through Lapworth’s legs. Kian Wilkes followed in to slot the ball into the empty net. Lapworth felt that the ball had been in his hands before Seale got his boot on it, but the referee allowed the goal to stand and the scores were level at 1-1.

There should have been a second Green goal in the 65th minute. Daalberg made a great run down the left and delivered the ball into the box for Seale, who made good contact with his shot but hit it wide. In the 73rd minute there was another chance when a pass from James Hall put the speedy Daalberg clean through, but Lapworth came off his line and daved at Daalberg’s feet to claim the ball.

Leverstock were looking the better side at this stage, but were hit by another penalty decision in the 76th minute, this one a foul challenge which was flagged for by the linesman rather then being spotted by the referee. After consulting the linesman, the referee awarded the spot kick and Josh Tooke made no mistake to put Ardley back in front at 2-1.

The Green side pushed everything forward in at attempt to get back into the game, but in doing so left themselves exposed at the back. Ardley had missed two very good chances to extend their lead just before Tooke converted a cross from the right in the 88th minute to finally put the seal on their win.

Ardley United (1) 3 (Talboys 45, Tooke 76 pen, 88)
Team: 1. Freddie Lapworth, 2. Zarius Edwards-Giraud, 3. Ben Willoughby, 4. Liam Talboys, 5. Thomas Franklin, 6. Haydon McConnell (14. Elliott Osborne-Ricketts 79 mins), 7. Declan Benjamin, 8. Lewis Gabbidon, 9. Joshua Tooke, 10. James Casbieri (15. Ben Gascoigne 41 mins), 11. Morgan Williams. Subs not used: 16. Lewis Gabbidon, 17. Samuel Ellis.
Leverstock Green (0) 1 (Wilkes 60)
Team: 1. Alfie Bonfield, 2. Bradley Robinson (12. Jack Allen 79 mins), 3. Rio Beach, 4. Dan Weeks, 5. Paul Marks, 6. Kian Wilkes, 7. Elgeniy Daalberg, 8. Dan Pett, 9. Rawn Seale, 10. Ollie Cox (15. James Hall 72 mins), 11. Ethan Mooney (14. Paplamin Jawara 59 mins). Subs not used: 16. Kyle Williams, 17. Fergus Moore.

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(A) Ardley United

Leverstock Green’s FA Cup run ended at the first hurdle after they were beaten 3-1 at Ardley United in Tuesday night’s Extra Preliminary Round replay. Leverstock were the better side for large parts of the game, but a missed penalty proved crucial, and a late breakaway goal by the home side sealed the match.

The Green side were without four first-choice players, with the suspended Frankie Jowle added to the injury list of Lewis Rodrigoe, Luke Peerless and Jamie Fulton.

Ardley took an early lead from the penalty spot, after the referee adjudged that Kane O’Neil had brought down an opponent in the box. Louis Joyce put away the spot kick to make it 1-0 in the 5th minute.

Leverstock were playing up the considerable slope in the first half and took a while to get into the game, but they levelled the scores in the 24th minute. O’Neil made up for his earlier misdemeanour with some great footwork in the box before crossing for Stephen Dodd, whose first effort was blocked, but when the ball came back to him he blasted it past keeper Jake Pritchard for the equaliser.

This was the start of a good spell for the Green side, with Ollie Cox hitting a shot from distance which Pritchard saved down by his post a minute later. Leverstock won a couple of free kicks, with Dodd getting on the end of both of them, but heading over the bar from the first one and shooting over from the second one. At the other end in the 33rd minute O’Neil was penalised again, this time for a foul just outside the box, but Deon Gallacher hit the free kick over the bar. Leverstock went close again four minutes later when Pritchard hit a clearance straight to John Smith, who tried to chip the keeper from distance, but it went just over the angle of post and bar. Five minutes before half time Leverstock had a great chance to take the lead. A shot from Adiel Mannion struck the arm of an Ardley defender, and under the new rules the referee had no alternative but to award the penalty. Mannion took the kick himself, but Pritchard pulled off a great save, diving low to his right to turn it round the post.

Instead of being in front, Leverstock then found themselves behind in first half stoppage time. It was a scrappy goal, with Drew Boyd forcing the ball over the line in a goalmouth scramble, and although it looked like the referee had overruled a linesman’s flag, it later emerged that in fact the linesman had flagged that the ball had crossed the line.

Eight minutes into the second half Leverstock looked to have a good shout for another penalty. A free kick from Cox found Dodd, whose header appeared to be blocked on the line by a hand, but the referee gave nothing. On 61 minutes there was another chance when Luis Brooker charged down a clearance from Pritchard, but the keeper did well to recover and turn Brooker’s shot round the post. This was one of those spells where Leverstock looked the better side, but they couldn’t convert their pressure to chances. On 78 minutes Dodd got on the end of a cross from Ollie Lawford, but didn’t make proper connection with his header and it was saved. Three minutes later another Lawford cross found Dan Weeks, but he couldn’t get enough of a contact on his header to get it on target. In the 85th minute a shot from Mannion was parried by Pritchard, but no-one was following up.

Three minutes from time Ardley went close to clinching the game on the break, but the shot thumped against the post. In the 89th minute they were reduced to ten men when Mason Courtney was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Smith. However, Leverstock didn’t have enough time to make their numerical advantage tell, and in the first minute of stoppage time Ardley broke away again, with Callum Harvey taking the ball around Carl Tasker before slotting home the goal that sealed a 3-1 win for his side.

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