Leverstock Green continued their excellent start to the season as they outplayed St Margaretsbury despite still having a number of first-choice players missing. Green have won four and drawn one of their first five competitive games, all played away, having used five different goalkeepers.

 

There was an early scare in the 8th minute when a crossfield pass found the home side’s Kevin Gray wide open on the right side of the penalty area. Gray’s shot beat Joel Canning, but Matt Plaskett got back to clear off the line. In the 11th minute St Margaretsbury won a free kick in a dangerous position, but Canning took Joe Barnett’s shot comfortably. The same could not be said of home keeper Kris Smithers, who fumbled a free kick from Josh Price three minutes later, but just managed to grab the ball on the line as Adam Hallissey came in to finish. However, in the 16th minute Chris Burr lofted a high ball into the box which Smithers flapped at again. The ball may already have crossed the line, but Hallissey followed up to make sure, forcing the ball over the line for his second goal in two games.

 

Smithers was at fault again for Green’s second goal. His goal kick in the 25th minute was short of the halfway line. Sean Sangster headed it back towards goal into the path of Allan Arthur, who raced clear of the last defender and slotted past Smithers to put Green two goals up.

 

There could have been another on 33 minutes when Arthur played a superb pass to put Hallissey clean through, but the youngster pulled his shot wide under a last-ditch challenge. At the other end there was a minor scare when Burr headed a clearance against his own post three minutes before the break, but in the last minute of the half a fierce shot from Paul Leslie brought a good save out of Smithers.

 

Green’s all-round solid display continued throughout the second half. On 55 minutes Sangster hooked a shot just over the bar, and two minutes later a deflected shot from Arthur went inches over. Smithers pulled off a fine save with his legs to keep out another shot from Sangster on 70 minutes.

 

Daniel Tompkins came off the bench to give Hallissey a well-earned rest on 72 minutes, and five minutes later he ran onto a long ball from Dale Sears to go clean through. Tompkins’ shot turned out to be more of a pass to Arthur, but he couldn’t quite force the ball home either. Tompkins had another chance in the last minute when Mark Welling’s pass put him through, but he shot over the bar.

 

There was a late rally from St Margaretsbury, as Steve Barker hit a free kick which brought a full-length save out of Canning, and moments later hit another long-range effort just over the bar. However, a bigger threat to Green’s three points was the power cut that plunged the ground into darkness after six minutes of stoppage time. The referee took the teams off the pitch, claiming there were still five seconds to play, but given that the result appears on the league’s web site, one assumes that common sense has prevailed and the result has been allowed to stand.

 

Team: Canning, Burr, Leslie, Price, Plaskett, Caseman (Pedder), Sears, Welling, Sangster, Arthur, Hallissey (Tompkins).