Brantham Athletic 1 Blues 5

Leiston made the journey down to Thurlow Nunn Premier side Brantham Athletic on Tuesday night off the back of a disappointing defeat in the FA Cup on Saturday writes Ollie Fairs. Glenn Driver made two changes to the side that started that game with Jack Ainsley returning to the starting eleven and Jake Hutchings making his first start for the Blues after joining from Grays Athletic. Leiston kicked off the first half and in less than a minute managed to earn themselves a corner. The corner was swung in by Gareth Heath and Joe Francis converted to make it 1-0 to Leiston within the first minute with the exact time registered as 51 seconds. However, Leiston's lead was short lived when, in the 7th minute, a moment of madness from keeper Danny Potter gifted Brantham's Ben Newson a chance he couldn’t refuse to draw the home side level again. Leiston looked to get back in front as quickly as possible and created a few chances before they managed to get themselves ahead again. The chance came from the right wing when Ollie Brown whipped in a cross to the back post that would have been harder for Patrick Brothers to miss. The Blues continued to create chances throughout the first half and were very much the dominant side, apart from one shaky moment when a Danny Potter clearance ricocheted off a Brantham player and trickled just past the post. Leiston eventually increased their lead when a stinging Jack Ainsley strike from the edge of the box was parried by Brantham keeper Jack Spurling to the foot of Joe Francis, who finished to get his second of the game and put his team 3-1 to the good after 39 minutes. There was still time left in the half for Leiston to score another when a Byron Lawrence free kick was headed in by Joe Jefford putting the Blues 4-1 up at the break. The second half began with the home team making a change as James Crissel was replaced by Samuel Hollis. It was also the home team who made the better start for the first 5 minutes of the second half with the highlight being when Ben Newson was denied when through on goal, denied by a great save from Danny Potter. However after that the home side struggled to make many more chances and Leiston were very much in control for the remainder of the game. Christy Finch was brought on for Joe Francis in the 63rd minute and almost made an instant impact when he was denied an almost certain goal from six yards, Ollie Brown being unable to convert the follow up. It took Leiston until the 82nd minute to add their final goal when Christy Finch found himself in space on the left an was able to drill a ball across the box to the feet of Tom Winter who calmly finished to complete the scoring at 5-1 to the Blues.

FT- Brantham Athletic 1 Blues 5

Brantham Athletic - Spurling, Mann (Cole 77 mins), Nobbs, Gregory, Reakes, Lawler, Dunne, Downey, Newson, Crisell (Hollis 45 mins), Gunn. Sub not used - Bartlett.

Blues - Potter, Brown (Schaar 69 mins), Brothers, Hutchings, Jefford, Bullard, Lawrence (Blades 73 mins), Heath, Winter, Francis
(Finch 63 mins), Ainsley. Sub not used - Ottley-Gooch.

Man of the Match - Patrick Brothers

Attendance - 66