LEISTON (Victory Road)

ISTHMIAN PREMIER LEAGUE, LEISTON 0-2 WHITEHAWK, ATTENDANCE: 365

After spending most of the morning 'recovering' from last nights chicken vindaloo, it was a lovely sunny drive down the coast to Leiston in Suffolk.

Leiston is a small town just down the coast from the Sizewall Nuclear plant and, with the sun shining, it was tempting to go and have a dip in the sea off Sizewall beach. In the end I thought better of it and went to the local pub for a Sunday roast dinner instead.

Leiston have come a long way in a short space of time having won back to back promotions, winning the Eastern Counties League in 2011 and the Isthmian League Division One North in 2012.

I will be honest and say Victory Road is a pretty unremarkable ground, it is not what I had pictured in my mind, put it that way! The Main Stand along the pitch and 'terrace' behind the goal are of the pre-fab variety, so no further comment is necessary.



The Main seated stand





However there was a covered terrace alongside the pitch, next to the clubhouse, which looked liked it had been there a while. The clubhouse did have a real ale on the go, Box Steam Brewery 'Piston Broke' but I sadly had to give it miss in lieu of a nice cup of tea.

The game was not the greatest, though in mitigation I will say it was a hot sunny day, with a cool sea breeze,and the pitch was hard and bumpy. Whitehawk struggled to break down a stubborn Leiston side and grabbed three vital points with two second half goals.



Sam Gargan scores from the penalty spot

A penalty, given for handball, was converted by Sam Gargan after 71 minutes before another Gargan effort after 78 minutes clinched the victory. This sent the Whitehawk Ultras behind the goal into a state of delirium!

This result effectively seals the title and promotion for The Hawks as the only team who can mathematically catch them are Lowestoft Town whose fans, incidently, were out in numbers this afternoon.

For that to happen then Whitehawk would have to lose their last game, Lowestoft win their last three and swing around a goal difference of 12. Highly unlikely I think.



The Whitehawk 'Ultras'

If i'm honest both games I've seen this weekend have, in the main, been pretty poor and have not been a great advert for the Isthmian Premier League.

Whitehawk  will probably face tougher challenges in the Conference South and, based on what I seen today, I predict they could struggle with the step up next season. Last season's champions (Billericay) and play-off winners (Hornchurch) have already been relegated back to the Isthmian League. Best of luck anyway, but we shall have to see how the Hawks fare...

STOP PRESS: Whitehawk were confirmed as Champions in midweek after Lowestoft could only manage a draw against Wealdstone. However the name Whitehawk will not be appearing on the fixture list next season as the club have changed their name to Brighton City FC.