Match Preview | Leiston (A)

Halesowen make their second longest trip of the season in their penultimate away match

Written by Ben Ditchfield

The Yeltz who are one draw/defeat away from going on their longest winless run of the season make the 360 mile round trip to Leiston just 48 hours before a huge home clash against AFC Telford United.

There have been five meetings in the last seven years between the two sides. The Yeltz have won just once, a 2-1 home victory on the opening day of last season. Halesowen have scored at least once in the last three clashes, but are winless in the last two, a 2-1 away defeat in February 2024, and a 1-1 home draw last September. Kieren Donnelly is the only player currently at the club who has scored in those five fixtures, after the exits of Miracle Okafor last summer and Enock Lusiama last October.

Leiston boss Chris Wigger took change at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and was joined in his role by joint boss Darren Eadie. The pair had to wait five months to take charge of their first match, a 5-0 FA Cup win over Halstead Town. In the pair's first season, they sat 21st in the league, but only after eight games, upon the suspension of the division due to Covid. In the three seasons that followed, the duo led them to a 7th, 3rd and 13th placed finishes respectively. Eadie left his role at the start of this campaign, which left Wigger as the sole manager at the club. He has been in charge of 215 games since he joined them in 2020, and has a 47% win ratio, scoring 358 goals.

Our opponents have suffered and dropped considerably down the table after the exit of talisman Jamar Loza. The striker scored 25 goals in all competitions this season, but left to join Kettering Town last month. In his absence, George Quantrell will be the man the side from Suffolk can call upon for a goal on Saturday. The 23 year old former Norwich City academy graduate has scored 18 goals this season in 49 appearances in all competitions.

The Blues have three more prolific scorers. Leiston's centre half Kyran Clements has scored a remarkable 10 goals this season, while Ben Fowkes also has double figures in all competitions, with 11. Despite having all these goals, none of these three currently at the club have the best goal per game ratio. The clubs winter signing from Needham Market, Adam Mills has scored four goals in just 12 appearances since his move in February. The Blues' most remarkable goalscorer this season is no doubt their goalkeeper Billy Johnson, who scored a 95th minute equaliser in the Suffolk Premier Cup Final just 10 days ago. A goal that attracted the interest of the BBC and Sky Sports. Leiston have had four players feature more than 45 times this campaign, Fowkes, Clements, Quantrell, and Fraser Alexander.

Despite their healthy 9th place stance in the current league standings, Leiston often struggle to draw first blood. Redditch United with 35% (14/39), are the only side in the league who have a lower scored first percentage than Leiston's 39% (14/39). The perfect explanation to The Blues' astonishing record is that only Banbury United (3) have scored fewer goals in the opening 15 minute period of games than Leiston's five goals. On the flip side, when our opponents do take the lead, they very rarely let it slip. The Suffolk club have only dropped six points from winning positions this season, no other side in the league have dropped fewer points.

Key Seasonal Stats

Leiston

League Position - 9th

Season Record - PL51 23W 14D 14L 82GS 67GC

Form (Last 5 Games) - DLWLL

Top Scorer - Jamar Loza (25 Goals)

Most Appearances - Fraser Alexander, George Quantrell (49)

Most Starts - Fraser Alexander (48)

Biggest League Win - 7-2 vs Lowestoft Town (Home - 26th December)

Biggest League Defeat - 4-0 vs Harborough Town (Away - 28th December)

Longest Unbeaten Run - 8 Games (15th October - 23rd November & 1st January - 22nd February)

Longest Winless Run - 4 Games (10th August - 26th August & 15th March - 5th April)