10/10/06: Molten SSML Premier Division

Leverstock Green 3 Biggleswade United 2

 

It was a case of "after the Lord Mayor’s Show" for Leverstock Green, as they struggled to maintain the standard set in Saturday’s performance at Wellingborough. For a long period their unbeaten league record was under threat, but again the side showed the character to battle on, and eventually got out of jail with two late goals that claimed all three points. With Harefield losing tonight, Leverstock are now the only remaining unbeaten side in the division.

 

The early signs were good as Green created a flurry of chances at the start of the game. In the opening minute Josh Price floated a free kick to the far post, but Dale Sears headed over the bar. In the 5^th minute a shot from Sean Sangster came down off the underside of the bar, and a shot from Steve Boad was saved by United keeper Andy North. A minute later a rasping shot from Sears was tipped over by North, and the resulting corner produced a goalmouth scramble in which the ball somehow stayed out of the net.

 

At the other end, Jack Weeden clipped a free kick just over the bar on 10 minutes, and on 17 minutes Mark Davidson missed his punch at a free kick, but Nick Stillwell hit the loose ball across the face of goal. There were increasing signs of frailty in the Green defence, and a minute later a chipped pass from the halfway line went over the head of Matt Plaskett to leave Mark Holmes clean through, and he emphatically blasted a shot past Davidson from the edge of the penalty area to put Biggleswade into the lead.

 

Two minutes later James Armstrong turned sharply on the edge of the United area, but hit his shot into the side netting, and on 23 minutes Sears shot just wide from Chris Burr’s pass. On 34 minutes Sangster made a darting run into the box where a defender’s clumsy challenge brought him down to give Leverstock a penalty. Armstrong attempted to place the kick in the corner of the net, but North made a full-length dive to turn the ball round the post. However, the linesman adjudged that North had moved off his line before the ball was kicked and Green had a somewhat fortuitous reprieve. At the second time of asking Armstrong blasted the penalty home to level the scores.

 

It looked as though the teams would go into the break level, but in the third minute of stoppage time disaster struck again. Mark Welling attempted to shepherd a long ball over the goal line, but Sam Brown got to the ball and put over a cross which went through a crowd of players to find Stillwell unmarked at the far post. He slotted the ball home from close range to put Biggleswade back in front at 2-1.

 

Ten minutes into the second half Green manager Mick Vipond went for broke, bringing on Allan Arthur and Adam Hallissey to make a three-man front line. Green began to push forward more and more, and both Welling and Sangster went close with shots. There was a bizarre incident on 68 minutes when Armstrong chased a through ball, but was sent flying by a defender’s challenge on the edge of the area. The referee gave nothing, but the assistant flagged for a foul. After consulting his assistant, the referee decided against the foul, but instead of awarding Green the resulting corner, restarted play with a uncontested drop ball to the goalkeeper.

 

Green continued to battle, and eventually got their reward. On 76 minutes Green won a corner, and although Price’s cross barely reached the near post, Welling got a flick onto it which hit the bar. Sears netted the rebound to level the scores at 2-2.

 

Six minutes later, the third substitute Wayne Barber played a great ball down the left touchline. Armstrong chased it down to the goal-line and put over a instinctive cross to the near post where Arthur steamed in to force the ball past North and put Leverstock into the lead for the first time at 3-2.

 

Green held on to their lead through a lengthy period of stoppage time thanks to goal-line clearances from Sears and Arthur, and although Biggleswade will feel hard done by at getting nothing out of a game in which they were well-matched, the Leverstock side learned a valuable lesson in the kind of standard they will have to maintain each game to keep up their challenge at the top of the table.

 

Team: Davidson, Burr, Leslie (Barber), Price, Plaskett, Boad (Hallissey), Sears, Welling, Sangster, Armstrong, Caseman (Arthur).