Leverstock Green suffered their third straight league defeat away to struggling Oxhey Jets on Saturday.

Steve Heath's squad, already stretched due to injuries, was spread even thinner with a number of players being unavailable today. The starting eleven was strong enough, but with only one fit outfield sub on the bench, options for changing tactics during the game were limited. On the plus side Steve Hatch returned from injury today and Louis Austin continued his progress towards fitness by warming up before the game.

The match was played in difficult windy conditions, which ultimately turned it into a game of two halves. Oxhey had much the better of the first half. In the 8th minute Steve Brown hit the bar in a goalmouth scramble following a corner, and on 15 minutes Lee Inch was played clean through but Carl Tasker pulled off a great save to turn his shot wide.

In the 17th minute Ian Bywater got on the end of a cross from Chris Ingham with a header that came back off the bar, but Leverstock were unable to clear the ball and Colin Jenkins hit a low shot from the edge of the box which found the corner of the net to put the home side into a 1-0 lead.

Leverstock had to use their only viable substitute on 36 minutes when the injured Ioan Vranceanu had to be replaced by Scott Gungadoo, a promising youth team player of two years ago who has only just come back from a long injury lay-off.

The Green hardly had a sniff of goal in the first half, but the second half was a different story as they had the wind in their favour. On 48 minutes a great cross from Lewis Pritchard almost found the head of Paul Insley but a defender got there first to head it behind. Four minutes later Insley was brought down just outside the box, and Gungadoo curled the resulting free kick inches over the bar.

On 57 minutes Lee Bircham floated a corner to the far post which Hatch got on the end of, but couldn't divert his header on target. Oxhey keeper Mark Jessop did well to tip over a wind-assisted cross-cum-shot from Insley on 71 minutes, and the resulting corner caused a goalmouth scramble in which Leverstock were somehow unable to put the ball in the net from inside six yards.

Oxhey threatened occasionally on the break, and Tasker had to save again on 75 minutes to keep out a shot from Lewis Putman. A corner from Gungadoo three minutes later caused another goalmouth scramble in which Junior Owusu-Akonor's effort from point-blank range was somehow blocked on the line.

With two minutes left Steve Heath made his last throw of the dice by sending on substitute keeper Gareth Tinsley to play up front, but despite battling to the end the Green could not put the ball in the net to get the equaliser their second half display had deserved.

Leverstock return to cup action on Tuesday night when they are at home to Ryman League side Cheshunt in the quarter-finals of the Herts Senior Cup.