Leverstock Green's players trooped off disconsolately at the end of a game from which they came away with nothing having led 2-0 at one stage against third-placed Colney Heath. The Green were the better side overall in this match and ultimately paid the price for failing to convert a number of clear-cut chances. Colney's winner came in stoppage time when they were down to ten men.

While most other games in the area had fallen foul of the persistent rain, the pitch at Colney Heath's Recreation Ground survived the wet weather and held up well throughout the match.

Steve Heath's side came out of the blocks quickly and had early chances. In the 4th minute a cross from Lee Bircham found two Colney defenders getting each in other's way to leave Ben Butler with a chance, but he shot into the side netting. A minute later Louis West headed wide from a Bircham cross.

In the 11th minute Green won a free kick out by the left touchline. Charlie Gorman swung over a great cross and Bill Morgan came in with a powerful header past keeper Tom Blackman to put his side into a deserved 1-0 lead.

The home side went close two minutes later, as Kevin Ashwood's free kick took a deflection and hit the post before going wide. More of the play was at the other end, though, where Louis Austin was causing the Colney defence all sorts of problems. On 36 minutes Austin played a great pass to put Jon Davies one-on-one with Blackman, but the Colney keeper saved with his legs. A minute later Austin went on a run of his own, cutting in from the left before shooting across goal and just wide.

Austin was threatening again as he played a one-two with Ben Butler, but a trip from Steve Barker ended his run, and the referee pointed to the penalty spot. The home defenders protested furiously that the challenge was outside the box, but the consensus among the crowd was that the decision was right. Bircham slotted the penalty home to put Leverstock 2-0 up in the 40th minute.

Things might have turned out differently if Green had taken that lead into the break, but crucially Colney pulled a goal back in the 44th minute. A corner to the far post was headed back across goal, and a looping header from Glen Draper found its way over Carl Tasker - the Green keeper having his own furious protest that he was impeded as the header went in.

Tasker was brought into action early in the second half, saving a header from Dave Corran, who got on the end of Paul Armstrong's cross from the right. In the 51st minute Corran's pass played in Ashwood on the edge of the box, but he shot just wide.

Steve Heath clearly sensed the need for another goal, as he brought on Lewis Pritchard to replace Dan Boyle on 53 minutes. On the hour a pass from Davies put Austin in with a run on goal. Choosing not to pass to the wide-open Pritchard, Austin closed in on goal before laying back to Gorman, whose effort was blocked, and a follow-up effort from Craig Preston was hit wide. On 64 minutes West was coming in to head home a Gorman free kick, but a last-ditch header from Barker cleared the danger.

The game was finely-balanced, and another hotly-contested decision led to the scores being levelled on 72 minutes. As a free kick was floated into the box, Bircham slid into what looked like a 50-50 challenge, but the referee pointed to the penalty spot again. Ian Cooper made no mistake from the spot to bring the score back to 2-2.

Six minutes from time the home side were reduced to ten men with the sending-off of Draper. Having already been booked in the first half, the referee pulled him up for a trip on Austin, and his abusive protests to the official probably didn't help his case as the red card was shown.

In the closing minutes Leverstock looked the more likely winners. There was a great chance for Austin as the ball dropped for him from a corner, but he shot over the bar. Gorman set up Pritchard with an even better chance three minutes from time, but he shot wide from the edge of the box. In the last minute another great run from Austin led to chances for both Butler and Dan Griggs, but both were blocked.

With the Green piling forward so much in search of the winner, there was an inevitability that they would get caught on the break, and so it proved. In the second minute of stoppage time Ashwood lofted a pass forward to Phil Jackman, who ran on before playing in Cooper, and he slotted the ball under Tasker to score what turned out to be the decisive goal.

Leverstock must pick themselves up quickly from this disappointment with two more tough games coming up, away to fourth-placed Royston on Tuesday night, and at home to leaders Chalfont St Peter next Saturday.