Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Table

31st January 2023

Alan Lee Reporting Premier Division

Harpenden Town 0 Leverstock Green 3

Saturday 28th January 2023

After six postponements due to weather and 26 days without a game Leverstock Green finally returned to action, and they hit the ground running as they recorded an impressive 3-0 win at Harpenden Town. On a difficult sticky pitch freshly defrosted from the cold weather of the last two weeks, Leverstock showed their attacking prowess in the first half as they led 3-0 at the break and defended superbly under pressure in the second half to maintain the win and the clean sheet. Skipper Dan Weeks returned to the side after a long injury layoff for his first game since September 6th.

Leverstock took an early lead, and it was something of a gift from the home side. Their defence unwisely tried to play the ball across the face of their own box, and as it held up on the sticky surface, Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica nipped in to stab the ball home in for a 1-0 lead in the 4th minute.

In the 13th minute Leverstock were awarded a free kick in a dangerous position just outside the box for a foul on Ibrahim Nagheeb, who got up to take the free kick himself, but couldn’t keep his effort under the bar. There was another great chance in the 18th minute. Stefanoaica chased a forward pass from Luke Durnin, while home keeper Alex Desmond came racing out of his goal but missed the ball. Stefanoaica continued his run towards the empty net, but by the time he caught up with the ball the angle was narrow, and his shot went into the side netting. Two minutes later Stefanoaica was denied again by a point blank save from Desmond.

16-year-old Kurainashe Musanhi was in the starting line-up in place of the injured Rio Beach, and he brought a save out of Desmond with a cross from the left touchline that was drifting towards the top corner of the net until Desmond tipped it over. Nagheeb took the resulting corner, which was headed up in the air by Stefanoaica. As it came down, the Harpenden defenders were slow to react, and Ethan Mooney nipped in to nod the ball home and put Leverstock 2-0 up in the 31st minute.

It was then the turn of Green keeper Austin Byfield to show his quality, firstly tipping a shot from Daniel Westmore onto the bar in the 37th minute, and then getting down low at his post to turn away a shot from Jake Anthony a minute later. The game was still finely poised, but Leverstock added an important third a minute before the break. A pass from Elginey Daalberg found Stefanoaica out wide, and as he headed on a run into the box, he was brought down by a challenge just inside the box. The referee initially waved play on, but his assistant raised his flag. After a consultation between the two, the penalty was awarded and Stefanoaica took it himself to make it 3-0 in the 44th minute.

The second half was a different story as Harpenden came out looking more determined and had the Leverstock goal under heavy pressure at times. In the 55th minute Byfield impressed again as he palmed a corner away and then instantly recovered to turn away an incoming header. Two minutes later Musanhi cleared off the line from one of the home side’s many corners.

Leverstock still had chances themselves to increase their lead on the break, with Stefanoaica twice being denied by Desmond after being put through by Dan Pett in the 61st minutes and by Mooney in the 80th minute. Mooney had a chance himself in the 84th minute after a great pass from Nagheeb but curled his shot just wide of the post.

The game ended with Harpenden applying further pressure from yet more corners, but the Leverstock defence held firm thanks to a number of superb performances, none more so than MOM Luke Durnin – recently returned after a long injury break and playing his first full game since August.

Leverstock Green (3) 3 (Stefanoaica 4, 44 pen, Mooney 31)

1. Austin Byfield, 2. Brad Robinson (14. Alvin Kyeremeh 60 mins), 3. Kurainashe Musanhi, 4. Dan Weeks, 5. Luke Durnin, 6. Ryan Carruthers (16. Callum Moore 88 mins), 7. Ethan Mooney, 8. Dan Pett, 9. Radu -Mihai Stefanoaica (15. Raheem Khan 82 mins), 10. Ibrahim Nagheeb, 11. Elgeniy Daalberg. Sub not used: 20. Scott McGleish.

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