Leverstock Green's up-and-down form continued as they followed up their dramatic win on Tuesday night with a disappointing defeat at Broxbourne Borough. The result cost Green another league place as the two sides had started the game on equal points. This was a game that Leverstock should have won, but the performance was generally flat, and missed chances again proved costly.

It was Green that opened the scoring in the 17th minute. As the ball rolled towards the Broxbourne bye-line, defender Sheldon Hussey was content to see it out of play, but James Armstrong chased it down and got his boot to the ball just in time to clip it into the six-yard box, where David Parkinson came in to slot it into the bottom corner for a 1-0 lead.

However, the lead lasted only three minutes. Bradley Poole found space on the right to put over a cross which Graeme Milner couldn't hold onto, and Sam Ruff netted the loose ball to level the scores at 1-1.

Leverstock continued to look the better side, though. On 23 minutes Mark Welling's cross found Parkinson, whose shot bounced up across goal to Daniel Griggs, but his header was palmed away by the keeper. Two minutes later Armstrong was clean through, but just as he was about to shoot, defender Rob Kemble got back to clear the ball off his toe. Two minutes before the break, Milner kept the scores level when he saved Ryan Wade's shot from a narrow angle with his legs.

Five minutes into the second half Green put together a nice passing movement as Frankie Jowle and Wardle combined to set up Armstrong, but he shot wide. On 55 minutes Welling ran onto a headed clearance and struck a fierce shot, but again it was just wide. Five minutes later a stray crossfield ball from Welling put Green under pressure. The ball was cleared temporarily, but only as far as Broxbourne defender Nicky Marsh, who connected with the shot of a lifetime. The ball flew into the very top corner of the net, where no keeper would have stopped it, and Broxbourne had the lead against the run of play.

With twenty minutes left, Mick Vipond switched to three at the back, replacing Daniel Weeks with Ebi Theophilus. The gamble seemed to have backfired on 74 minutes, when Ryan Wade was left in acres of space on the edge of the box to send a lob over Milner for a 3-1 lead.

However, Green should still have been able to save the game. On 79 minutes Jowle's cross found Wardle inside the six yard box, but his shot hit the post. A double substitution a minute later brought Eddie Gerrard and Kenny Hull into the game, and Green continued to press. Finally, in the 88th minute Armstrong's ball into the box found Wardle, and this time he had the composure to turn and pick his spot before slotting the ball home to give Leverstock a glimmer of hope.

During five minutes of stoppage time, Green managed to get a couple of crosses into the box, but even the high-jumping Theophilus couldn't get his head onto them, and Broxbourne were able to hold out for the win which saw them leapfrog Green in the table.