Leverstock Green ended their losing streak, although it took a last minute James Armstrong penalty to rescue a point and prevent a fifth straight defeat against a Ruislip Manor side that played the better football for much of the match. However, Green deserved the point for their persistence in the second half and showed signs that a return to winning ways may not be long in coming.

 

Green went into the match with an injury list that included Allan Arthur, James Dewick, Steve Boad, Mark Welling and Sean Sangster, and Lee Johnson only played after passing a late fitness test. However, they might have had a penalty as early as the 9^th minute. A long ball from Paul Matthews put Armstrong through, and he appeared to be bumped from behind by a defender as he went down just inside the penalty area, but the referee awarded nothing.

 

Apart from that, Green created little early on, and Ruislip’s enterprising football earned them a two-goal lead before the break. On 21 minutes Darren Rorie swung over a cross from the right touchline, and Mick Swaysland came in with a powerful header past Derek Lewis for the opener. On 37 minutes Green were punished for giving the ball away on the halfway line as Ben Payne played an incisive first-time pass to put Swaysland through, and he drove the ball home from a narrow angle for his and Ruislip’s second goal.

 

However, three minutes before half time a moment of quality put Green back in the game. From a free kick awarded just outside the penalty area, Josh Price curled a perfect shot over the wall and past the despairing dive of keeper Carl Tasker to reduce the arrears to 2-1. That was the score at the break thanks to Lewis parrying away another Ruislip shot in the last minute of the half.

 

The second half saw Leverstock mount a sustained attack on the Ruislip goal. Too often they were reduced to playing long balls from their own half, and chances were infrequent, but eventually they earned their reward for continuing to press. Before that, Ruislip could have sealed the game with a breakaway goal on 59 minutes. Chris Henry went on a weaving run into the box, but hit his eventual shot just wide.

 

Green’s best chance came on 75 minutes. On a swift counter-attack, Ryan Upton’s pass put Price clean through on goal. Price attempted to curl the ball round Tasker, but only managed to curl the ball over the bar. Five minutes later there was another near miss as Price received the ball in the box and laid back for Armstrong, but he blasted over the bar. Five minutes from time Ruislip missed another chance to make the game safe when Anthony Page beat the offside to go clean through, but his shot was turned away by Lewis.

 

It looked as though Green’s efforts would come to nothing as the clock ticked into the last minute, but then Armstrong picked the ball up by the right touchline and went on a run into the box before going down under a challenge from defender Dave Cooper. This time the referee pointed to the penalty spot, and Armstrong put away the spot-kick himself to level the scores.

 

The drama wasn’t over yet, as keeper Tasker was sent off for foul and abusive language directed at the referee, and Green put yet more pressure on the replacement keeper throughout stoppage time, but the closest they came was a shot from Dale Sears which was turned away by the keeper with the last touch of the game, and both sides had to be content with a point.

 

Team: Lewis, Matthews, Leslie, West, Johnson, Caseman (Bull), Sears, Price, Armstrong, Upton (Hallissey), Chamberlin.