Leverstock Green's bid to end the season with a trophy was ended in heartbreaking fashion as Bishop's Stortford struck a winner six minutes from time to claim the Herts Charity Cup. The Green had put up a heroic display against the Blue Square North side and held the scores level for almost an hour despite coming under heavy pressure.

With Stortford having put seven goals past Green's fellow SSML side Oxhey Jets in last week's Herts Senior Cup final, the Leverstock contingent could have been forgiven for fearing the worst when they fell behind as early as the third minute. A free kick awarded just outside the box was struck with venom by Dwight Gayle and the ball flew into the corner of the net past Carl Tasker to open the scoring.

However, the Green side settled down after that and began to play their way into the game. Stortford didn't get another sight of goal until the 25th minute when Gayle was played through on goal, but Tasker turned his shot round the post. Two minutes later a combination of a Tasker save and a goalline clearance kept the ball out from a free kick. Tasker immediately launched the ball upfield towards Lewis Pritchard, who raced clear of the Stortford defence and produced a superb finish to slot the ball past keeper Jordan Archer from the angle of the six yard box to level the scores at 1-1.

Three minutes before the break Green went close again when Bekim Culaj ran down the left and delivered the ball across the face of the Stortford goal, but nobody could get on the end of it. The game went into half time neatly poised at 1-1.

The second half saw Stortford pile the pressure on the Green goal, but the defence was did an excellent job to hold their shape and their discipline against the onslaught. Reece Prestedge went close with a shot just over the bar on 54 minutes, and a shot from Ritchie Jones struck the bar five minutes later.

Eventually Leverstock managed to get the ball out of their own half. On 70 minutes Culaj sent over a cross which Archer couldn't hold onto at the first attempt, but just managed to retrieve as Dan Griggs was about to pounce on the loose ball.

A double change on 73 minutes saw Glenn Thompson and Lee Stobbs replace Culaj and Griggs, and on 81 minutes Stobbs crossed to the far post for Pritchard, whose header hit the post.

The prospect of extra time was looming large as the clock ticked down, but one moment of quality in the 84th minute was enough to clinch the game for Stortford. A neat move on the edge of the box ended with Prestedge teeing the ball up for Gayle, who drilled home a shot into the corner of the net for his second goal of the match.

Leverstock continued to battle for another equaliser with Adam Hallissey brought on as an extra forward in place of Louis West, but despite four minutes of time being added on it was not to be.

The Green performance brought praise from the winning side, and they certainly gave their all in an attempt to win a trophy for departing manager Steve Heath. They must now turn their attention to their final match of the season at Dunstable Town on Saturday where a win would ensure a top ten finish.