Leverstock Green suffered spot kick agony as they went out of the Premier Division Cup at the first round stage in a penalty shoot-out. The Green side were very hard done by to lose in such a way after fully playing their part in an exciting cup tie that was fast, frantic and full-blooded throughout.

Hoddesdon had the game’s first near-miss in the 8th minute when Connor Scully broke through after a deflection and hit a shot that brought a great save out of Liam Jahn. However, it was Leverstock who had more of the chances later in the half. In the 24th minute a pass from Curtis Donaldson put Jonathan Lacey in on goal to hit a shot from a narrow angle that was just over the bar. On 30 minutes Leverstock broke quickly from a poor Hoddesdon corner. Lewis Bowers raced into the opposition half and set up Donaldson, whose shot was saved, and Shane Wood’s effort from the rebound was cleared off the line by defender Reece Hackney. Two minutes later Wood had another effort cleared off the line in a goalmouth scramble following a corner.

The game was goalless at half time, but the second half continued the frantic pace of the first half and the goals soon came. With just over a minute played Lewis Smith was put through on goal, but his shot was turned round the post by keeper Harry Smart. Leverstock played a short corner routine, and Donaldson delivered a cross which was perfectly floated for Lewis Bowers to thunder into the six-yard box and head the opening goal.

The lead lasted for ten minutes. A rare piece of slack Leverstock defending saw Wood lose the ball in the box and then overstretch to put in a tackle, resulting in a penalty to Hoddesdon. Charlie Edwards made no mistake from the spot to level the score at 1-1.

However, the Green side continued to push forward. On 59 minutes Donaldson hit a shot from the edge of the box into the side netting. Two minutes later Bowers headed a kick from Jahn onto Lacey, who was tripped in the box resulting in another penalty. Bowers smashed home the spot kick to put Leverstock back in front at 2-1.

This time the lead lasted less than a minute, though, as the Green defence struggled to clear a cross, and in the resulting scramble Brett O’Connor netted from close range to level at 2-2.

On 66 minutes Leverstock were reduced to ten men when Ross Adams was adjudged to have stamped on a Hoddesdon defender in a tussle and was shown a straight red card. However, the ten men remained competitive for the rest of the game. On 79 minutes Leverstock had a great chance on the break with two against two, but Donaldson’s pass was just too far ahead of Bowers, allowing Smart to get there first to clear. Seconds later Donaldson hit a stinger of a shot which Smart did very well to turn over the bar. Hoddesdon had the better of the last few minutes and might have won it in the last minute when a cross from Fraser John found Leigh Rose in front of goal, but he headed straight at Jahn.

With the score 2-2 at the final whistle, the game went into a penalty shoot-out, which was decided by one unfortunate moment as 17 year old Oliseh Okwudi put Leverstock’s second kick over the bar. Neither keeper got close to saving any of the other nine, with Jason Brown scoring the final kick to win it 5-4 for Hoddesdon.

Despite the final outcome, the performance was a continuation of the Leverstock side’s excellent form over the last couple of games, and they should be in confident mood for Saturday’s visit to neighbours Berkhamsted for a league match.