KINGS OF THE ROAD

Kings returned from scenic Suffolk with an emphatic victory over relegation threatened Leiston, recording their fifth successive away win in the process. In truth, the home side did not perform at all badly but they had no answer to the surgical precision of Kings’ finishing. The inshore breeze from the adjacent North Sea made for blustery conditions which took both teams a while to come to terms with early on. Kings were boosted by the return of captain Roddy Collins and he was soon in the thick of things, seemingly challenging for every ball as both teams battled to gain the initiative. In fact, it was the home side who almost drew first blood when Rhys Henry broke clear of the Kings’ defence but Melvyn Minter advanced quickly to force the striker wide and the chance was lost. The reprieve seemed to galvanise Kings and they set about weaving the patterns of play that has been the hallmark of their surge up the league. However, it was an act of benevolence that led to the visitors breaking the deadlock when Byron Lawrence’s wayward back pass was seized on by Will Hoskins and the experienced striker drilled the ball past the stranded Donkin with ruthless efficiency.

Leiston responded well to the setback but could make little headway against a resilient ‘Kings’ defence, in which Calum Adebiyi was, again, imperious. The remainder of the half was largely limited to a midfield battle for supremacy, but neither side could strike a telling blow and Kings retained their slender advantage going into the break.

That all changed with the introduction of Kings’ debutant Matty Wichelow as a half time substitute. The Montserrat international immediately signalled his intent, extracting a fine save from Donkin following a scintillating five man move. Langley were not denied for long, however, and keeper Donkin was again significantly involved when his misplaced clearance was seized on by Roddy Collins, who quickly fed Jordan Parkes. The midfield maestro gave Donkin no chance to make amends with a sublime finish into the top corner. The blow seemed to visibly drain confidence from the hosts and Kings took full advantage when Parkes was again to the fore with an incisive pass through to Whichelow, who unleashed a ferocious drive into the top corner to put the result beyond doubt. Kings were well in the ascendancy now and completed the scoring with arguably the best goal of the game. Again Parkes was the architect, combining well with Hoskins before finding Stevie Ward with an astute pass. The talisman forward cleverly slipped his marker before crashing a superb drive in off the underside. It was tough on the home side who had played their part and battled to the end but the quality of Kings’ finishing was superlative on a day that sees their unbeaten run extend to an impressive ten League games.