Leverstock Green 0 - 1 Tring Athletic

WE END LEAGUE CAMPAIGN WITH LOCAL DERBY VICTORY

Despite some awful weather during the winter months, when we thought it would never stop raining, we finally made to the end of the season - signing off our last League game with a hard earned win over near neighbours Leverstock Green.

It was hardly free flowing stuff and at times the game was very scrappy, particularly in the first half. It had the look of a 0-0 draw until a defensive error from our hosts in the 38th minute settled matters in our favour when the home centre half Josh Dooley, under pressure from Ben Kakembo, either miss headed a cross or tried to head it back to his keeper who was stranded in no mans land and the ball bounced into the open goal. Score 0-1.

The game improved in the second half with Levy pressing for an equaliser but we were rock solid in defence which was again superbly marshalled by skipper George Carbery. We looked dangerous on the break but in truth neither side created any good scoring opportunities and neither keeper was called upon to demonstrate their range of skills.

Ten minutes of added time at the end stretched our nerves a bit but we held on for a very good win. FT Score 0-1.

Congratulations to Leverstock Green who have had a superb season finishing 4th in the table to match their previous highest ever finish in the 2010/11 season. They qualify for the Play Off’s and will meet Harpenden Town on 1st May but the game will be away after they failed to get at least a point against us. The other Play Off game will be between MK Irish and FC Romania with the overall winners joining Real Bedford in clinching promotion to Step 4. We wish Green every success in their endeavour for promotion.

We finished 6th in the Premier Division table which is a fantastic achievement after we entered 2024 in 13th place. The rise up the table is due to a phenomenal run of results which Ryan and his team can take great credit for. We lost only one of our last 12 League games and that was against Champions Real Bedford away. During this run we scored 23 goals, conceded only 7 and kept 8 clean sheets. We also beat Oxhey Jets 4-0 to lift the Herts Charity Shield for the 4th time.

Again our defence was outstanding during this game and Carbs and his fellow defenders have received justified accolades in recent weeks but this was a team performance with midfielders Jack Harvey, Harry Shepherd, Greg Deer and Noah Butler all playing their part in this victory.

We have one (or hopefully two) more game/s to play with Levetsock Green again the opponents for a St Marys Cup semi-final at the Michael Anthony Stadium on Saturday, so please come along and give the lads plenty of vocal support.

Team:

TA: Dan Gould, Harry Jones, Adam Sawyer, George Carbery (Capt), Dave O’Conner, Jack Harvey (Charlie Bradshaw 88), G Deer, Harry Shepherd, Noah Butler (Harrison Mead 81), Frankie Hercules (Bailey Osborne 71), Ben Kakembo (Max Hercules 61).

SCORER

TA: Own Goal (38)

Crowd: 91