NORTH Leverton prepared for their Wembley Stadium appearance this coming Saturday with a hard fought County Small Schools Knockout semi-final against Sutton Bonington, from the extreme south of the county.
Sutton took an early lead with a headed goal that gave goalkeeper Mark Hazel no chance, but Leverton were quick to equalise when captain Toby Sims hit an unstoppable 20-yard drive into the bottom corner of the net.
Half time arrived with no furthe
r goals but the resumption saw a different Leverton soar into a 4-1 lead.
With the back line of Tyler Wilson, Matthew Baddiley and Daniel Smalley well under control in defence, the dynamic strike force of Connor Payne and Owen Gamble, both Year Five boys, combined to give Leverton a seemingly comfortable lead.
They quickly added to this through a powerful header from Toby Sims.
Full credit to Sutton who, with only seven minutes remaining, reduced the arrears with a bullet free-kick and a further goal scrambled in the last minute, but ran out of time to prevent Leverton reaching a final tie against Lambley, who were 4-1 winners over Bassetlaw’s Haggonfields.
North Leverton’s next appearance will now be on the Watford FC training ground on Friday, when a round-robin tournament will decide the order of play at Wembley on Saturday.
