Saturday's Dacorum derby at the Grass Roots Stadium ended with Leverstock Green on the wrong end of a 2-0 scoreline to Tring Athletic. It was an encounter somewhat spoiled by a card-happy referee who managed to dismiss one player from each side in what was never a dirty or bad-tempered game.

Leverstock had a promising first couple of minutes, but a goal out of virtually nothing saw them fall behind in the 5th minute. A pass from Chris Salmon sliced open the Green defence, leaving former player Stewart King clean through to neatly lob Kieran Jimmy.

It was almost 2-0 four minutes later when a flick-on from a long throw hit the inside of the post and the rebound was beaten away by Jimmy. Leverstock's first effort on goal came in the 15th minute when Liam Hind set up Jimmy Talbot for a shot which went a yard wide. Tring keeper Matt Evans missed his attempt to punch away a cross in the 31st minute, but neither Hind nor Timi Salako could force the loose ball home.

Tring's Greg Deer had been booked early on for what looked like a reasonable tackle, and Salako was equally harshly booked during the first half for a tackle where he appeared to win the ball. However, Deer's booking proved crucial as he slid into a challenge on Mark Woolley on 37 minutes, prompting the referee to show him a second yellow card and reduce Tring to ten men.

The first half had seen Leverstock have more of the ball but they had little to show for it in terms of chances. A half-time change saw Louis Bircham replace Salako, and within two minutes of the restart Bircham had added his name to the referee's notebook, again somewhat harshly.

Leverstock's man advantage saw them dominate possession over the opening 15 minutes of the second half, and they were putting together moves of twenty or more passes, but again the end product was lacking as they could not break down the last line of the Tring defence.

The referee evened things up on 63 minutes when the Green were reduced to ten men, Damien Cruickshank seeing red after being booked for two tackles within a ten minute spell.

Jimmy saved a shot from Taylor Collins on on 65 minutes, and at the other end a minute later Evans had to go down low to his right to keep out a shot from Hind. Some nifty footwork from Hind four minutes later set up a shooting chance for Callum Wright, but Evans saved it comfortably.

A second Tring goal on 72 minutes left Leverstock with a mountain to climb. Michael Green's cross to the far post found Paul Somers outnumbered two to one, and Sonny Aird squared for Collins to scuff the ball home from close range for a 2-0 lead.

Three minutes later Leverstock had their best chance of the game when Wright curled in a superb cross. Talbot came in to meet it but stabbed the ball wide, with Hind probably better-placed behind him.

As Leverstock pushed forward to try to save the game, gaps started to open up at the back, and it required a couple of good saves from Jimmy to keep the score at 2-0. Firstly he saved from Chris Vardy who was clean through on 79 minutes, and from the resulting corner tipped a shot from Trevor Gibbs onto the bar.

A disappointing result after two excellent cup wins over the previous week, but Tring fully deserved their win which takes them to the top of the league. Leverstock now face the visit of Wembley on Tuesday night in a league match, before continuing their quest for the other Wembley next Saturday when they visit Biggleswade United in the FA Cup First Round Qualifying.