As Spring arrives so does the expectation of three points on St David’ s Day as The Poppies are on their travels to deepest Suffolk for a game at Victory Road, the home of Leiston FC.

After a hard fought goalless draw with promotion rivals Halesowen Town last Tuesday, KTFC face an in form side, which is becoming a feature of our run in, and Leiston are no exception to this trend. With only 12 games left, 6 away and 6 at home and a potential 36 points at stake, each game is a cup final in the title race especially as Stratford won against Sudbury in midweek (3-0), there is only five points separating the top five. It’s all set up for a great game at Victory Road on Saturday.

Leiston meanwhile, come into this game in good form winning four of their last six games (Spalding United 2-1; Stamford 0-2; Redditch 1-0; Hitchin 2-0) scoring seven goals conceding only one goal. However, most notably, they lost to AFC Telford (1-3) last time out and away at Harborough Town (0-4) drawing at St Ives 2-2).

‘The Blues’, under the managership of Chris Wigger, lie third in the last six game league overall form guide, second in the home (having picked up sixteen points from a possible 18) and fourth in the away form league. However, despite their impressive recent record, KTFC beat Leiston 2-1 in this seasons reverse fixture at Latimer Park showed, with Leiston scoring in the 80th minute sandwiched between a 12th minute goal from Jonny Edwards and a late 89th minute strike from Nike Ranger.

In contrast, whilst only two places and three points separate the two teams, KTFC, with three wins in the last six games (1-3 Stourbridge; 3-0 Barwell; 0-1 Sudbury) together with a loss away at Banbury 1-0, and a draw versus Halesowen Town, fell to fourth place in the league. The Poppies sit 8th in the overall form guide have attaining 10 points from a possible 18 (8th place for home form (13 from 18 points) and 11th position for away matches 6 points out of 18). Its going to be a tough game on the coast. Get Behind the Team. COYP!

                                                             LEISTON

Season        V        Comp           F-A     Att:    Poppies Scorers

2018-19        H        ESLSPC       1-2     749     Solkhon

          A        ESLSPC       1-0     328     O’Connor

2023-24        H        PISLPC        2-2     507     Yussuf, Andrade

                     A        PISLPC        2-0     173     Bennett, Lewthwaite

2024-25        H        PISLPC        2-1     881     Edwards, Noel-Williams

POPPIES WINS:  3         GOALS FOR:            8

THE BLUES WINS:           1                                       GOALS AGAINST:               5

DRAWS                           1

Played for both clubs (3)

Goalkeepers

Sam Banya, Claude Stephane Seanla, Billy Johnson.

League debuts (1)

Leon Clarke             2023-24 (a)

Leiston players sent off v Kettering Town (1)

Noel Aitkens            2018-19 (a)

LEISTON

Manager                           Chris Wigger

Ground                             The Watson & Hillhouse Stadium (Victory Road)

Position in the league      (6^th 51pts from 31 games)

Leading League scorer    (17) Jamar Loza

FORM

Overall          L        WDWW        = 10pts

Home           W       DWWW        = 13pts

Away            L        WWDL          =  7pts

THE BLUES SO FAR….