Leverstock’s Vase dreams are shattered by Dunstable

Leverstock Green paid for their inability to turn possession into goals as they crashed out of the FA Vase with an astonishing 5-0 defeat at AFC Dunstable.

The two sides each showed three changes to the starting line-ups from Wednesday night’s 2-2 draw in the league, and Leverstock took the game by the scruff of the neck from the start.

In the fourth minute, the home side gave the ball away from their own free-kick straight to David Sobers, who put Billy Smith clean through, but keeper Louis Porcelli came off his line to save.

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A key moment came in the 19th minute when Callum Wright went on a solo run through the AFC defence and went down just inside the box. The referee’s decision was to book Wright for diving although it appeared that there was definite contact.

Leverstock continued to impress with their one-touch build-up play against a side that looked uncharacteristically sloppy and sluggish, but they didn’t create enough chances and had nothing to show for their efforts as the end of the half approached.

This proved costly as Dunstable struck a minute before the break. A cross from the left bounced around several players in the penalty area before James Bishop took the chance to fire the ball home from six yards.

Worse was to follow in first half stoppage time; Newman Carney delivered a free-kick from near the halfway line straight into the danger area and it fell for Fabio Bufano to shoot low into the bottom corner for a 2-0 lead.

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Leverstock continued to push forward early in the second half, but three substitutions failed to turn the tide, and when Marcus Campbell shot home a third goal after 81 minutes, the game was over as a contest.

Carney added a fourth from the penalty spot four minutes later, and Lorenzo Silvestri piled further misery on the Green side with a fifth goal in stoppage time that left their supporters in a state of disbelief at what had transpired.

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