Chelmsford City U18's 0 Blues U18's 1

Leiston came into this game having beaten Hadleigh United and Walsham le Willows in previous rounds, however, Leiston did come into this tie on a bit of a low having been defeated in league action away at Walsham by five goals the week before writes Craig Cooper. The Blues were stuck in traffic before the game meaning they got to the ground with just over twenty minutes before the allocated kick off time of 7.30pm. With just enough time to do a warm up, Leiston knew they would have to start well against a decent Chelmsford side who had beaten Thurrock and Waltham Abbey by single goals in their two previous rounds. Leiston started off okay but Chelmsford had the first chance of the match with Charlie Beckwith getting a good strong wrist to a snap shot from 12 yards. The home team were controlling possession in the early stages of the match but Leiston forced the first talking point of the game when Adam Blades was sent clear only to be hauled over by home keeper Max Harrington just outside the box. The Referee produced a yellow card to the offender Harrington and Jac Garrard’s free-kick curled narrowly over the crossbar. A lot of the play at this stage was being played in the middle of the park but Leiston would now take the lead. Tommy Smith got inside the defender on the angle of the box and after sliding the ball past the home player was then upended, with the Referee deciding that the incident was in the penalty area after a lengthy chat with the linesman. Adam Blades stepped up to take the penalty and put it into the goalkeeper’s bottom left hand corner. For the remainder of the half both teams hardly threatened with both defences on top.

HT - Chelmsford City 0 Blues 1

For the majority of the second half Leiston really didn’t test keeper Harrington but they withstood a great deal of pressure from the hosts. Brandon Phillips, who looked sharp all evening for Chelmsford, was getting forward and putting some good deliveries into the box. Charlie Beckwith had to claim several early crosses before Marly Okosi had a great chance to level but he miscued his shot over the bar. After a decent move from Leiston Jac Garrard could only hit a cross out of play. A good free-kick shortly after was close to Tommy Smith but he couldn’t get a head to the delivery. Leiston did have a goal disallowed when Adam Blades shot superbly into the bottom corner but an alleged push by a Leiston player was seen by the Referee to give the home side a free kick. Tommy Smith then did well to deflect over a cross after the away defence switched off. Home substitute Josh Boxall then missed another good chance firing narrowly wide and shortly after Jac Garrard did well to divert a well struck effort. With five minutes of normal time remaining Charlie Beckwith made a super save to his left from Connor Jones and with the game nearly up, Lukas Darling gave away a soft free-kick that saw Charlie Beckwith again excel to turn the effort over the bar. With the visitors wanting the Referee to blow for the full time whistle, Leiston defended one last corner to finally see the ref end the game after five minutes of stoppages to send the visitors wild.

FT - Chelmsford City 0 Blues 1

Chelmsford City - Harrington, Thackray (Boxall 59 mins), Radford, Dixon, Coppen, Riley, Phillips, Harris (Appadoo 79 mins), Okosi, Jones, Stantiall. Subs not used - Stedman, Timson and Newsome.

Blues - Beckwith, Groom, Oliver (Darling 66 mins), Spurling, Mansfield, Norman, Garrard (Butler 74 mins), Murphy, Blades, Hanson, Smith. Subs not used - Mills, Gissing and Osbourne.

Man of the Match - Alfie Norman

Attendance - 95