Leverstock Green's first of three bids for silverware ended in disappointment as they were beaten by Colney Heath in the Premier Division Cup final. Much was expected of the Green side after their glorious run of results, including a convincing win over Colney ten days earlier, but they ended up well-beaten after a below-par display.

The game didn't get off to the best of starts for Leverstock, with Charlie Gorman being booked in the second minute for a two-footed tackle. However, what few chances there were in the first half were created by the Green. In the 18th minute a Lee Bircham corner to the far post found Steve Hatch, whose shot was blocked, but Bill Morgan's effort from the rebound brought a great save out of keeper Tom Blackman, who had to dive down to the bottom corner to keep it out.

Two minutes later Louis Austin won the ball in midfield and played it through to Hatch, but his shot across goal was comfortably gathered by Blackman. On 36 minutes Austin set up Gorman for a shot across goal that went just wide.

Leverstock had looked marginally the better side in the first half, but the second half was a huge letdown. Colney Heath went close to taking the lead in the 53rd minute when Matt Brown's header from a corner was well-saved by Tinsley. A minute later, though, a ball was played into the box which was allowed to bounce several times. Tinsley slipped over in the goalmouth and Ian Cooper nipped in to shoot home and put his side into the lead.

Just before the hour Steve Heath brought on Lewis Pritchard as a second striker. Too much of the Green game however revolved around pumping long balls downfield, and this simply wasn't working on the night. There was a lack of ideas and a lack of craft in the Green side. Their best chance of the half came on 68 minutes when Bircham beat a defender to get to the bye-line and put over a great cross, which just eluded the head of Austin before finding Hatch, whose shot brought another good save out of Blackman.

Tinsley saved again on 75 minutes, turning a shot from Jamie Eames round the post, and from the resulting corner tipping a volley from Jack Coombs over the bar. On 82 minutes it looked all over for Green when Cooper was put clean through and Tinsley brought him down. The referee awarded a penalty, but took no further action against Tinsley, and the Green keeper redeemed himself by producing a great save to keep out Cooper's spot kick.

The penalty save might have been the boost that Leverstock needed to get back into the game, but they were still unable to create any clear-cut chances. The game was finally put beyond them two minutes from the end. Tinsley saved a free kick from outside the box, but was unable to hold onto the ball, and Josh Humbert came in to net the rebound and give his side a decisive 2-0 lead.

A dejected-looking Green side collected their runners-up medals a few minutes later, but the team must pick itself up quickly, with the final league match at Hertford coming up on Saturday, followed by the St Mary's Cup final on May 2nd and the Herts Charity Shield final on May 10th.