Hat-trick hero, Matt Blake, insisted that his Leiston team really needed to win tonight’s Suffolk Premier Cup Final, to make up for the disappointment of a poor end to their league campaign.

And the Victory Road club did just that, by beating Felixstowe & Walton United 3-2 at a very wet Portman Road to retain the trophy that they won for the first time by beating Bury Town last year.

"The lads deserved this. We had not won in 11 or 12 games, so it is not about my hat-trick," explained striker Blake.

"It feels good, but the team needed that and the whole club needed that.

"The manager (Stuart Boardley) and everyone at the club all needed a smile back on their face, and I think we gave it to them.

"We were very shaky at the finish and I was very worried towards the end, but it makes it all worth it - everyone got their money's worth and it was an exciting game really.

- Match report of Leiston's 3-2 win over Felixstowe & Walton

"We pulled through and managed to do it.

"I said to Finchy (Christy Finch) that I wouldn't have been able to do it without him, to be fair. He just slipped round the centre-halves and I got on the end of them, it was nice.

"So a big thanks to Christy Finch because he made the first two goals for me.

"The early goal helped, for me and the team. We had not won for so long, we needed that early goal to ease it.

"It was similar to last year (against Bury), when we scored an early goal. It was a similar sort of game but without the same sort of ending.

"It was vital to score, early in the first and early in the second half. It's a shame we let two goals in at the end, but that's football.

"Scoring a hat-trick at Portman Road rates up there with what I have done in my career, it felt good.

"I've been disappointed over the last couple of years, with my goals tally. I came out with a 42-goal season, and I have found it hard to match it or even get anywhere near it, due to different things.

"But forget about my goals. We've come here, the fans needed this, the manager needed it and everybody at the club needed it," added Blake, whose hat-trick was bagged in front of a crowd of 1,382.