A last-gasp goal denied ten-man Leverstock Green what would have been a very hard-fought three points at London Tigers on Saturday. Dene Gardner's side had to settle for a point from a game played on a heavy pitch and littered with yellow cards.

Both sides found the net early. In the 6th minute Luke Warner-Eley floated a free kick into the box, and Nathan Jellow headed home to give Leverstock the lead on his first start for the first team. However, three minutes later the home side were level with a shot from Hesham Benmansour which Kieran Jimmy seemed to have covered, but the ball somehow squeezed between his gloves and the near post.

There were plenty of chances for both sides over the remainder of the half, but both keepers were on very good form. On 13 minutes Warner-Eley pulled the ball back from the bye-line for Elias Moses, whose shot was saved by home keeper Arlys Pampolim. Three minutes later Pampolim tipped a rasping shot from Warner-Eley onto the bar.

In the 19th minute Jimmy saved a shot from Ali Soussi, and two minutes later pulled off another good save to tip over a shot from Benmansour which bounced up off the ground. A minute later Leverstock went close again when Moses hit a shot just wide, and on 31 minutes Jimmy did well again to keep out a shot from Simon Noel. In first half stoppage time Pampolim denied Leverstock again when he turned a shot from Warner-Eley round the post.

Leverstock had been forced to make two changes during the first half. Liam O'Keefe left the game in the 27th minute feely groggy after an earlier collision, and Scott Melville had to go off injured two minutes before the break.

The second half opened with pressure from Tigers, but the closest they came was a ball across the face of goal from Benmansour in the 49th minute. On 58 minutes Leverstock broke away from a Tigers corner. Warner-Eley's pace took him past the last defender Yahya El-Khaboucho, but his shot on the run was brilliantly tipped over by Pampolim. Four minutes later Jimmy came off his line to dive at the feet of Soussi, who was through on goal.

The game had seen a steady stream of yellow cards from the referee, and on 64 minutes Leverstock were reduced to ten men when Moses was shown a second yellow for dissent at a free kick. However, the Green's ten men went back in front four minutes later. A free kick from Warner-Eley was headed down to Callum Wright, who connected with a hooked volley that gave Pampolim no chance.

For the rest of the game it was a question of whether Leverstock could hold onto their lead. They had a scare in the 88th minute when a free kick floated in from distance eluded everyone in the box and hit the post. Three minutes into stoppage time Jimmy pulled off a great point-blank save to keep out a shot from Benmansour. It looked like the three points were heading for Pancake Lane, but in the fourth minute of stoppage time Benmansour received the ball on the edge of the box and hit a low shot into the corner of the net to rescue a point for his side.

The referee blew the final whistle seconds after the restart, showing how tantalisingly close Leverstock had been to a second straight win. Their next game is on Tuesday night at home to Welwyn Garden City in the quarter-finals of the Herts Charity Shield.