Leverstock Green finally clinched a trophy at the third attempt to put the seal on a fantastic season for the club. Two second-half goals were enough to beat London Colney 2-0 and win the Herts Charity Shield at Letchworth.

They had to do it without three key players, as Louis Austin was still not fit, Charlie Gorman was injured and Dan Griggs was unavailable. Steve Heath's tired troops were playing their 67th game of the season, but they bounced back from two cup final defeats to earn a well-deserved reward for their season.

The first half was largely unexciting with few chances for either side. Jon Davies went close with a quickly-taken free kick that was just wide in the 6th minute. London Colney felt they had a shout for a penalty in the 17th minute when Frankie Jowle, one of four ex-Green players in the Colney squad, went down in the box, but the referee was unmoved. Two minutes later they had the ball in the net from a corner, but it was disallowed for pushing.

The second half opened in a similar low-key vein, but the game finally caught fire just before the hour mark. On 58 minutes a free kick from Lee Bircham found Bill Morgan at the far post, but his header was saved by keeper Mark Whittamore. Two minutes later Lewis Pritchard took the ball on a long run across the field before squaring for Dan Boyle, whose shot brought another save out of Whittamore.

At the other end Carl Tasker saved a shot from Ricky Perks, and on 62 minutes had to come out of his area to clear a through ball from Jowle to Perks. The best save of the night came on 63 minutes when Whittamore flew across goal to get his fingertips to a long-range shot from Butler that was heading for the top corner. Six minutes later Tasker produced another great save to tip a free kick from Jowle over the bar.

With 20 minutes left, London Colney introduced another ex-Green player as David Parkinson came off the bench, and shortly afterwards Steve Heath made a double change with Steve Hatch and Adam Hallissey replacing Davies and Boyle.

The introduction of Hatch up front proved to be the turning point of the game. On 77 minutes a ball was played forward towards Hatch. Former Green player Mark Paradise got his boot to the ball first, only to lob it back towards his own goal. Whittamore was out of his goal, and the ball flew into the net to give Leverstock the lead despite Colney protests that Hatch had been offside.

The lead was almost doubled three minutes later when Hallissey set up Bekim Culaj for a shot which went just wide. The biggest threat to the Green lead came in the last minute when a mazy run from Parkinson was finally ended by a foul just outside the box. Leverstock followers need no reminding of Jowle's ability from free kicks in this area, but on this occasion Jowle hit the free kick straight at the wall and it was cleared.

The game was finally put beyond doubt in the third minute of stoppage time. As Colney pushed forward, they were caught on the break by a pass from Pritchard that put Hatch clean through. Despite more protests for offside, Hatch kept his composure and took the ball round Whittamore before slotting into the empty net for a decisive 2-0 lead.

A few minutes later the final whistle went, and the jubilant Green team lifted the Herts Charity Shield, which the club had last won four years ago. The team can now have a well-earned rest.