Dacorum derby delight for Berkhamsted against ten-man Leverstock

Berkhamsted made it three home wins in eight days as they beat Leverstock Green 3-0 in Saturday’s Dacorum derby in front of the SSML Premier Division’s biggest crowd of the day.
Ed Canham heads home Berkhamsted's third goalEd Canham heads home Berkhamsted's third goal
Ed Canham heads home Berkhamsted's third goal

Berko manager Mick Vipond made only one change to his starting line-up, as Adiel Mannion returned from injury to play against his old club.

In the first half, plenty of chances fell to Berko’s top scorer BJ Christie and he duly opened the scoring with a shot in the 13th minute.

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The big striker continued to find space behind the defence, only to be foiled by keeper Kieron Jimmy on a number of occasions.

Jim Baldry also ventured forward and had a couple of headers saved at the Railway End, while the speedy Louis Bircham rattled the post for Leverstock.

The game was effectively finished as a contest just before half-time when Christie broke clear again and was hauled down by Jimmy.

That earned the goalkeeper a red card, and Josh Chamberlain converted the resulting penalty.

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The red was one of nine cards issued by the referee, in what was actually a quiet derby in terms of few bad tackles or obvious dissent.

With less than 10 minutes gone in the second half, it was no surprise that Berkhamsted extended their lead when centre-half Ed Canham firmly headed home from a corner past the stand-in keeper to make it 3-0.

Chamberlain also beat the keeper with a long range shot that thundered against the bottom of the crossbar and bounced down, but according to the officials did not cross the goal line as the game ended in a comfortable victory for Berko.

The win pushed Berko up into second spot, as they used up their game in hand over Sun Sports and now trail the Watford outfit just on goal difference.

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Berko conclude a quartet of consecutive first team home games tomorrow night when they entertain promotion rivals Kings Langley in the Challenge Trophy.

On Saturday Berko go to bottom of the table Ampthill Town hoping to pick up another three league points and boost their goal difference. Jordon Frederick misses those two matches through suspension.