Redditch United 0-6 Blues - Match Report

Leiston won their first match since the return of Glen Driver and Tony Kinsella as they beat Redditch United in Worcestershire 6-0 at the weekend to keep a second clean sheet in a row.
The victory helped them move above St Ives Town to go third from bottom in the BetVictor Southern League Central Premier table.

Glen Driver included new signings Jake Hutchings and Tom Debenham in the starting eleven while George Keys came in at right back for the suspended Kyle Hammond. Will Davies dropped to the bench while Josh Hitter was still ill.

The Blues began well and Siju Odelusi had an early header that home keeper Kieran Boucher palmed onto the crossbar but the Suffolk side took the lead in just the fifth minute as good play on the left hand side by Andy Fennell saw a ball into the box that Byron Lawrence helped on and new signing Tom Debenham poked home from close range. Leiston started to gain more confidence and Byron Lawrence picked out John Sands who fired in a shot but Boucher did extremely well to make a good save. Moments later, Fennell’s free kick went just wide of Boucher’s left hand post. A long kick from Blues keeper Sam Donkin was headed on by Debenham and Sands rushed onto the ball to shoot just over the bar. Leiston were caught out at the back but Noel Aitkens got back to clear the danger before Rhys Hilton forced Donkin into his only save of the match. Meanwhile, Sands had another chance that Boucher saved as the half came to close.

Leiston did add a second as Sands headed over Boucher from Donkin’s long kick at the start of the second period, before Byron Lawrence smashed into Boucher’s bottom left hand corner in the 59th minute to finish the contest. Sands scored his second and Leiston’s fourth as he launched an effort in his own half that evaded Boucher and went straight in the net while shortly later, the hosts didn’t deal with a corner and Sands was on hand to tuck into the net for his hat-trick. Late on, good individual play by Tom Debenham on the edge of the area ended with him shooting past Boucher to finish the scoring. Late on, Kyran Clements and went close for the Blues.

The win will give the side more confidence as they now look forward to hosting Peterborough Sports next Saturday.

FT: - Redditch United 0-6 Blues.

Meanwhile, back at HQ’s, Leiston Reserves defeated Lakenheath 5-4 at the Watson & Hillhouse Victory Road Stadium. They were 2-0 down and 4-2 behind with twenty minutes remaining before coming back to score a last minute winner. Louie Bloom netted a hat-trick while James Gaffer and Grant Overett also got on the scoresheet.
The ‘A’ team beat Woolverstone United Reserves 12-0 at Alde Valley Academy in Macron SIL Division 4. Ash Wilding (4), Drew Connick (3), Zac Gissing (2), Callum Pearce, Callum Tucker and Ryan Scott were the scorers.

Line-ups: -

Redditch United: - Boucher, Hall, Hendricks, Rankin, Wilson, Endall, Birch, Hilton, Lucas, Larmond (Owusu-Nepaul 60 mins), Chong (Katega 67 mins). Subs not used: - Marusiak, Ganderton, Lane.

Leiston: - Donkin, Keys, Clements, Aitkens, Odelusi (Sinclair 63 mins), Hutchings, Lawrence (Kamanzi 61 mins), Stewart (Davies 70 mins), Debenham, Sands, Fennell. Subs not used: - Bacon, Henry.

Man Of The Match: - John Sands.

Attendance: - 175.