Leverstock Green suffered a fifth straight defeat and ended up on the wrong end of a league double to neighbours Berkhamsted in Saturday's Dacorum derby. The game was evenly-contested in the first half, but once again the second half proved to be the Green's undoing.

Steve Heath was missing a number of key players through injury and unavailability and went with Louis Austin as a lone striker. There was little goalmouth incident in the early stages of the match, with the nearest miss coming when a clearance from Gareth Tinsley cannoned off the legs of Mark Shadbolt, but fortunately rebounded just wide of his own goal.

Leverstock's first moment of promise came in the 21st minute when a good ball from Lee Bircham put Ben Butler in on goal, but keeper Ed Farmer did well to turn Butler's shot round the post. At the other end Matt Wardle had a run at goal in the 29th minute but hit his eventual shot straight at Tinsley. Seconds later, however, Wardle was in again, running on to a ball down the middle to finish well with his left foot and put his side 1-0 up.

It was a short-lived lead. On 32 minutes Leverstock won a free kick over by the left touchline. Up to this point their set-piece delivery had been poor, with too many balls going straight into the arms of Farmer. This time, however, James Bent curled in a good one, and Farmer was caught wrong-footed as the ball flew straight over his head into the net for the equaliser - Bent's second goal in his third game for the club.

There was a moment of controversy before half time as Austin appeared to be going clean through on Farmer until being knocked over by Jim Carmichael. A free kick and a card of some sort would have been expected, but the referee played on. A few minutes later Carmichael went in strongly on Tinsley but again escaped any kind of punishment.

The second half was progressing in a similar fashion until ten minutes in when Green skipper Bircham had to hobble off with a leg injury. That meant a change in shape as Adam Hallissey came on and Butler switched to the unfamiliar position of right-back.

However, for their second goal Berkhamsted exploited the left side of the Green defence as Connor Calcutt went on a run and got in a cross from near the corner flag. Tinsley was hesitant about coming out to collect it and paid the price as Wardle slid in to stab home his second goal of the game on 62 minutes.

One former Green player replaced another on 66 minutes as Berko boss Mick Vipond replaced Dale Sears with Frankie Jowle. Five minutes later Jowle went on a run into the box and went down under challenge from Louis West. The referee pointed to the penalty spot and Jowle took the kick himself to score from the spot just as he did in the first meeting between the sides a few weeks ago.

WIth 15 minutes left Steve Heath sacrificed a defender for a second forward as Mark Burfoot came on for Ross Miller, but Leverstock could not play their way back into the game. A shot from Craig Preston which deflected off a defender's boot just over the bar was the closest they came.

Berko almost added a fourth in the last minute. Wardle exploited the right side of the Green defence to beat the offside trap, and could have completed his hat-trick, but instead squared to Josh Chamberlain, who looked certain to score. Chamberlain's shot beat Tinsley but Shadbolt somehow managed to scramble back and head the ball off the line.

The win takes Berko back above Leverstock in the Premier Division table, and the Green are now struggling to hold onto a place in the top ten. They will have to look to the two cup competitions they are still in to salvage something from this season.