Leverstock Green are building up some late-season momentum as they secured their second three points of the week with a 5-2 win over Hoddesdon Town in Saturday's game at Pancake Lane. The win was all the more impressive as the Green side came back from 2-0 down.

Leverstock started the game well, and had a good chance in the 11th minute when Callum Wright turned in the box and put the ball across the face of goal, but nobody could get on the end of it.

It was somewhat against the run of play when Hoddesdon took the lead in the 27th minute, Daniel Udoh breaking through to slot the ball past Dan McNicholas. However, the visitors then took control of the game, and almost added a second in the 38th minutes when Udoh was put through again, but McNicholas saved well with his legs.

Hoddesdon did get their second goal in the 43rd minute, when a ball across the box found Aaron Crockett all alone with time and space to shoot home. Crucially, however, Leverstock pulled a goal back on the stroke of half-time. A free kick into the box was not cleared, and Louis Bircham found the composure to hit an angled shot from six yards into the corner of the net.

There was little sign of what was to come in the early stages of the second half, with Hoddesdon looking more likely to add to their lead, only being denied by good work from McNicholas.

The turning point came midway through the half when a quick turn from Bircham inside the centre circle launched an incisive Leverstock counter-attack. Bircham found Luke Warner-Eley, who put Wright clean through. Wright took the ball past keeper Sonny Sheed-Ryan, but was then pulled down by the keeper. The referee awarded the penalty, but remarkably took no further action against Sheed-Ryan despite him clearly being the last man. Bircham stuck away his 20th goal of the season from the penalty spot to level the scores at 2-2.

Within two minutes the game had turned completely as Leverstock were awarded a free kick just outside the box, and Luke Warner-Eley curled it over the wall superbly to put the Green 3-2 ahead despite Sheed-Ryan getting both hands to it.

Hoddesdon should have brought it back to 3-3 in the 83rd minute. Udoh was clean through and could have scored himself, but instead laid off to Jamie Brandon who was even better placed. Brandon had only McNicholas to beat, but slotted his shot inches wide.

That proved crucial as Leverstock went on to score two more goals, both of them created by Luke Preedy, one of the talented under-18 players, who came on as a 75th minute substitute. In the 86th minute Wright crossed to the back post, where Preedy met it with a cushioned header back into the six-yard box for Bircham, who brought it down and stabbed the ball home to complete his third hat-trick of the season.

Two minutes into stoppage time a pass from Preedy put Callum Wright clean through, and Wright neatly lobbed the ball over Sheed-Ryan to complete an excellent 5-2 win.

The three points were enough to ensure that Leverstock are mathematically safe, with two league games remaining, the first of them being next Saturday away to Colney Heath.