Leiston boss Stuart Boardley praised 17-year-old Harrison Bacon for showing ‘real bottle’ after he scored the decisive penalty in his side’s Suffolk Premier Cup quarter-final shoot-out victory over Lowestoft Town.

The holders won 3-2 on spot kicks following a 1-1 draw in Wednesday night’s tie at Victory Road, with Bacon netting Leiston’s third penalty before goalkeeper Marcus Garnham saved from Ben Fowkes to seal their semi-final spot.

Leiston had dominated the opening period, but only had Byron Lawrence’s well-taken 28th minute goal to show for it.

Lowestoft, who had ten players out, came more into the game after the interval and Connor Deeks headed the equaliser from Jack Wilkinson’s 77th minute right-wing free-kick to take the tie to penalties.

Lawrence, Kyle Hammond and Bacon scored from the spot for Leiston, while Will Davies saw his effort saved by Putnins and Christy Finch rattled the crossbar.

Connor Deeks and Jack Wilkinson were successful for Lowestoft, but Travis Cole shot over the bar and Garnham saved from both Henry Pollock and Fowkes.

Leiston manager Boardley said: “It was just one of those games. I thought we did well in the first half and probably should have been two or three up in all honesty, but in the second half we just didn’t come out and made it extremely hard work for ourselves.

“Lowestoft nicked a goal towards the end and although we came out eventual winners, it was a tough one to watch.”

Boardley added: “Marcus (Garnham) is good at penalties, as much as it pains me to say it because I missed quite a few against him during my time! He is a great shot stopper, probably the best at this level, to be honest, and you are always confident when you have got him between the sticks.

“I thought most of our penalties were relatively good, even young Will Davies who missed one as it was a great save from their keeper, and then Harrison Bacon, a 17-year-old lad, showed some real bottle to put his hand up and say I will take one and that was good to see.”