BEN Fowkes came off the bench to fire Leiston into the next round of the FA Cup after a fine 2-1 victory at Cheshunt, writes Craig Cooper.

Fowkes, coming back from injury, had only been on the pitch two minutes when, in the 73rd minute, he picked up the ball, drove at the Cheshunt defence and slotted home in style. It proved the winning goal and nothing more than Chris Wigger's side deserved.

Ahead after just six minutes through Willie Clemons, that after Adam Mills had missed a third minute penalty, the Blues were pegged back before half-time when Mattias Fanimo levelled.

However, the Blues weren't to be denied and Fowkes sent the travelling away fans home happy as Leiston progressed into the next round.

The Blues made three changes to the team that won at Needham Market on Monday afternoon.

Ben Batho, Clemons and Ryan Jarvis all came into the starting XI, with Wyatt Hill injured, while Jude Frostick and Ronnie Blois dropped to the bench.

The game started at a fast pace and Leiston won a penalty in the third minute when Joao Rangel’s cross was handled in the box. However, Mills shot wide from the spot.

Leiston showed great character in their response, no more so than Mills who did well on the left to cross into the box where Clemons met the ball to steer past Aymen Azaze in the home goal.

Two minutes later Antonio Vasiliou shot from distance but Billy Johnson made a good save to his left. On 11 minutes, Vasiliou tried his luck again, this time from further out after seeing Johnson off his line but the ball went wide of the keeper’s right-hand post.

Leiston were defending well with centre-backs Eddie Jackson and Kyle Callan-McFadden dealing with balls into the box, while full-backs Seb Dunbar and Batho also secure.

Charlie Naylor headed wide from a corner for the hosts on 22 minutes but the hosts would level on the half hour mark.

Leiston allowed a Cheshunt player to drive forward into the box and the ball was squared to Fanimo who slotted past Johnson from six yards out.

George Nunn shot over on 39 minutes while Jack Manly and Rangel linked up well at the other end but the latter's cross went out of play. In the last action of note in the half, Manly’s shot was palmed away by Azaze before Cheshunt cleared the ball away to safety.

Four minutes into the second half, Mills controlled a long kick by Johnson and drove into the box at an angle but shot straight at Azaze.

On 51 minutes, Dunbar and Clemons put good deliveries into the area while Callan-McFadden snuffed any danger out at the other end to send clear a free kick.

Johnson punched away a free kick on 59 minutes and Mills found Rangel on the right and the Blues player shot just wide of Azaze’s upright.

Batho’s cross was taken by Azaze on 66 minutes with Cheshunt quickly breaking up field and Johnson was out well to slide into the ball with a home attacker charging him down.

Fowkes was introduced with just under 20 minutes to go and he delivered a ball from the Leiston right which was met by Mills but he shot wide. But, just a minute later, Fowkes picked up the ball and drove at the away defence, dribbling into the box to evade a defender and shoot into Azaze’s bottom left-hand corner to give Leiston the lead. It was a terrific goal.

Cheshunt had a great chance to level on 77 minutes when a long thrown in was flicked on but the header was put over from six yards.

The Blues dealt with everything Cheshunt threw at them in the closing stages and, on 91 minutes, Fowkes nearly sealed the win but dragged his shot wide of Azaze’s post.

Cheshunt won three corners in succession with a couple of minutes remaining, with Johnson tipping over one, Eddie Jackson blocking a close range header and the final action of the game saw a Cheshunt header go wide of Johnson’s post, as referee Thomas Kelly blew the final whistle.

This was a good win against a side who have started the season well in the league and the Blues can now look forward to Monday's draw.

Meanwhile, Leiston are quickly back in action as they head to Lowestoft Town on Tuesday night in the Suffolk Premier Cup First Round, kick off 7.45pm.

FT: Cheshunt 1 Blues 2

Line-ups;

Cheshunt: Azaze, Akolbire, Roberts (Furlong 77 mins), Soulya, Naylor, Da Silva, Vasiliou (Effa 77 mins), Granville (Gibson-Hammond 70 mins), Nunn (Smith-Kouassi 62 mins), Braithwaite, Fanimo (Kurran-Browne 62 mins). Subs not used: Mvemba and Vukoje.

Blues: Johnson, Batho, Dunbar, Callan-McFadden, Jackson, Rangel (Blois 62 mins), Alexander, Jack Manly (Fowkes 71 mins), Mills, Clemons, Jarvis (Frostick 55 mins). Subs not used: Rayworth, Walsh and Mehew.

Blues Man Of The Match: Ben Batho

Attendance: 206