Back
The joy, the heartache, of Suffolk Premier Cup semi-finals for the Blues
It's been a mixed bag of semi-final results for Leiston as they seek to reach the final once more. DAVE REES takes a look.
THE Suffolk FA Premier Cup was first played in the 1958/59 season with Bury Town the victorious recipients of the cup in its inaugural season.
In fact, Bury Town won seven of the first eight finals. Despite the competition being 67 years old there have only been 11 winners, with Bury Town, Lowestoft Town and Sudbury Town all sharing the most wins (13).
Leiston’s first foray in the counties senior cup competition was in the 1986/1987 season following an invite from the FA after the Blues lost the previous season’s Senior Cup final.
In that opening fixture the Blues were held 1-1 at Brantham Athletic, with Phil Stone the Leiston scorer. A week later Paul Addy scored the all-important winner to send the Blues into the semi-finals for the first-ever time.
In that semi-final they went down 3-0 to higher-ranked Felixstowe Town at their Dellwood Avenue ground in what would be the first of four semi-finals Leiston played at Felixstowe.
The next visit to Felixstowe's ground for a semi-final was in 2007 when Newmarket Town were beaten 3-1 as the Blues booked their place in back-to-back finals. 12 years later an Ipswich Town XI were beaten 2-1, Tom Bullard and a late Harrison Bacon strike secured the win at the seaside, and the Blues went on to beat Felixstowe & Walton United in the final at Portman Road. The fourth semi-final to be held at Felixstowe involving the Blues is of course this week against AFC Sudbury.
Tuesday night will be the Blues 16th Premier Cup semi-final in what is their 61st tie overall in the competition, and they have lost the last three semis, albeit the 2022 defeat to Stowmarket Town was reversed after Stowmarket had fielded an illegible player.
In all (including the Stowmarket reverse) Leiston have won seven of their 15 semi-finals to date.
The first semi-final success was in 2006 when goals from Chris Dennett (2) and Danny Stanley saw Newmarket Town beaten 3-1 at Hadleigh United. The longest winning semi-final run is three ties between 2006 and 2008, while the Blues lost four semi-finals in succession between 2012 and 2015, with three consecutive defeats to Bury Town among those four games.
Leiston's opponents on Tuesday night, AFC Sudbury meanwhile, last won the Premier Cup 21 years ago, a third successive victory after wins in 2002 and 2003 and, since the amalgamation of Sudbury Town and Sudbury Wanderers, they have only appeared in four finals.
Going back to that first-ever appearance in the Premier Cup for Leiston in the 1986/87 season, Leiston had to wait another 18 years before testing themselves on the counties top table, but the journey ended almost before it had begun, a 1-0 defeat at AFC Sudbury in the opening round.
And talking of Leiston v AFC Sudbury, it was eight years before the sides met again, when a late strike from Nathan Stone in 2012 won the tie for the visiting Leiston side, three days after winning at AFC Sudbury in the Isthmian League Division One North. Could that be an omen 13 years on? We'll have to see.
Whilst Leiston have managed to twice hold aloft the coveted trophy, they have also been the bridesmaid at the main event on five occasions, losing their last final appearance at the home of Colchester United on penalties to Needham Market in 2022.
It’s been six years since the Blues got their hands on the Premier Cup, and it's Felixstowe & Walton United who await in the April final, just the small matter of the Blues navigating past AFC Sudbury first, which will be a difficult obstacle in itself.