Late goals hard on luckless Stotfold

It was desparately harsh on the bottom side who had deserved something from this match.

They had the first decent chance midway through the first half when Dan Harper’s header was tipped over the bar. The resulting corner was cleared for a second corner, and from that Luke Burnett netted Joe Ryan’s cross from close range.

Green came back, putting a couple of efforts high, while keeper Matt Fallon stopped Shane Wood’s header.

The second half saw Leverstock have much more of the ball but Stotfold, sensing an all-important victory, were quick to close them down.

Ryan nearly doubled the lead for Stotfold with ten minutes left – but they were made to pay as Levy levelled with two minutes to go through Lacey. Then deep into injury time came the winner in controversial circumstances.

The referee had blown for a foul on Lawrence, but the linesman had his flag up for offside. Initially the referee was going to give Stotfold the free kick, but was eventually persuaded to award the free kick to Levy 20 yards from the Stotfold goal. Fallon saved Marsh’s shot, but couldn’t hold onto it and Scott Bonner pounced on the loose ball to score.

Stotfold host Berkhamsted on Saturday.