Match Preview

BLUES V AFC RUSHDEN & DIAMONDS - MATCH PREVIEW

Match Information
Pitching In Southern League Central Premier
Blues v AFC Rushden & Diamonds
Tuesday 16th November
Kick Off 7.45pm
Watson & Hillhouse Victory Road Stadium, LTAA, Leiston, Suffolk, IP16 4DQ
Tel: - 01728 830308.

Admission Charges
Adults - £11
Concessions - £8
Students (with ID) - £6
Under 16’s - £2.

Matchday Programme - Can be purchased for £2.

Car Parking (Free of charge)
Main Car Park.

Catering Information - Large bars, internal and external catering facilities with hot and cold food available.

MATCH SPONSORS: - Hoopers Archeticts.

MATCH BALL SPONSORS: - Hoopers Archeticts.

Game 17/40.

Leiston host AFC Rushden & Diamonds tomorrow night in league action. The Blues will be looking to build on an excellent win against Harrow Borough in the Buildbase FA Trophy at the weekend after a 3-0 win in the competition thanks to goals from Will Davies (2) and Brendan Ocran.

Leiston remain in fifth place in the league table while ‘Diamonds’ are mid table.

The sides have met five times over the three previous seasons. The sides first met in December 2018, with AFC Rushden & Diamonds winning 4-1, with Christy Finch on target from a free kick. Later in the same season, Matt Rutterford scored in a 1-1 draw in Northamptonshire in a first ever visit to Hayden Road for the Blues to earn the team a point. The next season, Matt Blake put Leiston 1-0 up away from home in August 2019, but the hosts ended up winning the game 5-1. In February 2020, John Sands and Noel Atkins were both on target but Leiston lost to two late goals to go down 3-2 at Victory Road. Last season, Dylan Switters and Liam Jackson were both on the scoresheet as Leiston drew 2-2 in an entertaining match in Suffolk.

‘Diamonds’ won 3-2 in their last match on Saturday 6th November at Hednesford Town but went out of the FA Trophy at Matlock Town a game before. Although Leiston have lost a couple of league games lately, they have still won an impressive 8 league matches from their last 12.

Leiston end November with a trip to Coalville Town on Saturday in domestic action before heading to Bishop’s Stortford a week on Saturday in the Buildbase FA Trophy.

Blues joint boss Chris Wigger said on Monday evening: -

‘I think Saturday’s performance again shows how we can compete with the very best at this level. Although Monday’s result also shows how at times we are still not quite there yet! Myself and Darren and the rest of the management team would definitely prefer it this way where we are competing and beating the top sides because that definitely shows where we are at ability wise. What’s left is just a small adjustment with regards to attitude. Also with a relatively new group, this is to be expected, and it’s certainly not a problem to us. As a target for us is now is a little more consistency and if we can find that then we can start to establish ourselves as a team to be taken seriously.
Next up is a very difficult home fixture vs AFC Rushden Diamonds, a game which we must take very seriously. This fixture last season saw us share the points and I think both sets of managers will be looking to improve on that result.‘

Tomorrow’s other matches in the Pitching In Southern League Central Premier: -

Barwell v Stratford Town
Hednesford Town v Coalville Town
LEISTON v AFC RUSHDEN & DIAMONDS
Lowestoft Town v Hitchin Town
Nuneaton Borough v Needham Market
Peterborough Sports v Royston Town
Rushall Olympic v St Ives Town
Tamworth v Banbury United.