Leverstock Green claimed another point in Wednesday night's visit to AFC Dunstable, although they perhaps deserved all three from an excellent second half performance. It was an entertaining game, full of attacking football, and bodes well for when the sides meet again on Saturday in the FA Vase.

It was the home side, managed by former Green boss Steve Heath, who made the stronger start. They could have taken the lead in the 5th minute when a slip from Liam O'Keefe left James Bishop in, but his shot aimed at the far corner of the net was well saved by Kieran Jimmy, and the rebound was cleared to safety. However, three minutes later they did open the scoring, from a free kick somewhat harshly awarded against Damien Cruickshank. Newman Carney swung the ball over, and Leon Cashman's header went in off the underside of the bar.

Leverstock didn't get going until the 18th minute, when a great pass from David Sobers put Louis Bircham in, but Bircham couldn't get the ball under control and the chance went away. On 24 minutes a corner was played back to Cruickshank, who hit a shot which home keeper Louis Porcelli did well to save at the second attempt, given that he was unsighted by Sobers standing in front of him.

An early change had seen injured skipper Lee Gardner replaced by Liam Hind, and on 40 minutes Hind's pass gave Luke Warner-Eley the chance to put in a cross which Sobers just failed to get his head to. In the last minute of the half Leverstock broke quickly from defence into attack with some excellent one-touch play, and Billy Smith's shot from the edge of the box was inches wide of the post.

The second half opened in complete contrast to the first, with Leverstock quickest out of the blocks. The pace and skill of Callum Wright and Billy Smith was unleashed and caused all sorts of problems for the AFC defence. On 57 minutes a great move saw Sobers find Smith, who threaded a pass through for Bircham to chip the ball over Porcelli for a well-deserved Green equaliser.

On 65 minutes Wright's ball over the top allowed Smith to outpace the defence and go clean through, and although it looked like Smith had taken a couple of touches too many, he still managed to squeeze his shot past Porcelli into the net to put Leverstock into a 2-1 lead.

Five minutes later Smith was through again but this time hit his shot across goal and wide. The Leverstock defence was looking much more solid than in the first half, allowing the home side few chances. However, on 73 minutes their defending from a free kick let them down again, as the ball was not cleared and Cashman managed to scramble the ball home to level the scores at 2-2.

Either side could have won the game in a frantic last 15 minutes, but it was AFC who came closest to a winner two minutes from time when Jamie Warne's cross-cum-shot came back off the bar. The two sides will reconvene at Creasey Park on Saturday in the second qualifying round of the FA Vase.