Monday, 24 April 2017

Sun Sports v Leverstock Green                           22nd April 2017                              SSML P

Mid table clash shares the spoils

Who would have thought that Saturday’s match at home to Leverstock Green, with both teams mid table with nothing to play for except local bragging rights, would produce such an entertaining 90 minutes.
Leverstock kicked off and went on the attack straight away, controlling the game for the first 20 minutes and it certainly looked like Green wanted it more with their fast flowing movement and pressuring the Sun players whenever they had the ball, it seemed that the Sun would have a tough match ahead of them.
So it was no real surprise that Green went ahead after only eleven minutes when Sun old boy Brima Johnson returned to the Sun Stadium to cause havoc down the right wing and crossed a ball hard and low into the six yard area finding Johnathan Lacey at the back post to knock it over the line.
If that was the kick up the bum that the Sun needed to get their fingers out then it still hadn’t worked as Green continued to press and nearly had another chance to score but for the quick thinking of Matty Evans who came off his line to prevent Lacey from getting his and Green’s second of the afternoon.
Karl Penny finally had some suitable service and made space for Jack Johnson to take over who hit a low shot which went agonisingly the wrong side of the post.
Tommy Walsh took a free kick which curled past the wall but again went the past the wrong side of the upright, this was soon followed by a neat three man move from Tommy Walsh on the right to Andy Brennan in the middle who looked up to see Tom Gibson steaming up the left flank. Gibbo took the time to compose himself and as a defender came to confront him he cheekily chipped the ball goal-ward which was dropping just under the crossbar but for the Green’s keeper Liam Lahm who palmed the ball to safety.
Lacey continued to be a nuisance once again beating the Sun offside trap and this time Matty Evans as well, it looked like he would be rolling the ball into the goal at an obtuse angle but speed machine and ex Levy player Damien Cruickshank got back in time to hook the ball off the line.
Andy Brennan has been in superb form recently and Saturday was no exception, his fantastic cross-field pass dropped just over a defender’s head finding the feet of Karl Penny who smashed the ball home to equalise for the Sun.
Karl Penny was making the match his own and would set off on a run as soon as he picked the ball up, using his pace to good effect and on the times when he lost the ball JJ was soon there to follow up, on one occasion he threaded the ball through to Kyle Johnson who let rip from the edge of the area with a shot that was too hot to handle, stinging the hands of Lahm who managed to divert it away from danger.
The first of three penalty appeals from the Sun came when a sliced clearance found Penny in the right place but was barged over by a defender, the appeal falling on the referee’s deaf ears.
A piece of perfection of a pass from Ryan McMahon was inch perfect falling at Damien’s feet who promptly then set off on one of his run’s at the Green defence, skipping and striding through he was about to let go of a shot when a defender’s foot blocked the attempted thwarting Damo’s chance to shine.
The second half started with the Sun pushing forward from the kick off and while keeping possession they deftly edged closer until a through pass went to Kyle Johnson whose audacious flick found Karl Penny with the room to have a strike at goal which Lahm saved on the line.
This middle table clash started to turn into a game of cup tie proportions in a game that ebbed and flowed from one end to the other and the Sun sussed out Leverstock by attacking on the counter with the midfield hitting passes to Penny who would start his run in the Sun half, and on one of these times he chipped a ball through to Kyle Johnson who hit the ball a little too early as the ball flew high, wide and handsomely over the bar.
Ross Adams came on as a sub for Green and looked to be a handful as well as someone to look out for next season, he was put through with only Matty to beat but the Sun guardian made himself look big and spread himself well to block the shot.
Matty was back in action soon after saving a super shot from Dave Lawrence who struck the ball with some venom. The partnership of the two K’s (Karl and Kyle) was certainly working and as Kyle set Karl up yet again and Penny dodged two defenders before hitting the ball over the bar.
Karl continued to give the Green defence nightmares at the back and was bundled over after beating his marker again…this time the ref saw it and blew for a penalty.
Jack Johnson stepped up to confidently slot the ball into the goal, sending Lahm the wrong way and the Sun were ahead for the first time in the match.
Minutes later and the Sun thought that they should have been awarded another penalty when Tommy Walsh tried to skip past two of the Green defence in the area but ended up as the meat in a Leverstock sandwich….this time the ref waved away any protests, although this claim was probably a better one than the pen that was given!!
While the Sun were still complaining Leverstock Green went down the field and Adams scored for Green to make it all square again at 2-2.
As the game came to a close it was the lads from Leverstock that finished the stronger and Lacey went close with a curling shot that went past the post…whether Matty Evans had the shot covered only he could tell.
In injury time Karl Davidson broke through the Sun defence  and although Matty Evans came out to smother the ball he lost hold of it and the ball bobbled free but captain Joe Horwood was covering to be able to clear the ball away to safety.
So a tough midfield battle between two evenly matched sides threw up a thoroughly entertaining match and the point was enough for Sun Sports to confirm a top ten place for the season.

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