Leiston manager Glenn Driver believes the club’s decision to appoint himself and first-team coach Tony Kinsella last summer has been vindicated.

The Blues missed out on the Ryman League Premier Division play-offs at the weekend, a goal four minutes from time by Enfield Town’s Bobby Devyne denying them a shot at promotion – Driver’s team eventually falling short by two points.

However, despite that disappointment, Driver believes the season has been a success and has praised the Blues’ board for their appointment.

“If you look at the bigger picture, it was a big decision for the football club to make as Richard Wilkins (Driver’s predecessor) is an excellent coach at this level.” said Driver who, around a year ago, was coach of Rushmere Lions under-13s.

“Myself and Tony Kinsella were novices but if you put things into perspective, we reached the first round of the FA Trophy and have hardly been out of the top six all season.

“The biggest thing is that our gates are up by 68 per cent, that’s massive for us, as the club were being watched by between 120-140 people last season.

“We’re averaging around 270 now which speaks volumes at this level of football and says a lot about the style of football we have played.

“We hope people will continue to come next year and our job will be to continue to try and entertain.”