Set-pieces won the day for buoyant Leiston, as first-half goals from Conor Hubble and Craig Parker inflicted a 2-0 defeat on Suffolk rivals Bury Town, in a Ryman League Premier clash at Ram Meadow on Tuesday night.

Steve Ball’s men were always in charge, against a Bury side severely depleted by suspensions and recent departures – the Blues were without both regular centre-halves, Adam Bailey-Dennis and Tom Bullard, due to bans.

Still, Leiston have come a very long way in a very short space of time, under Ball’s guidance, being transformed from relegation candidates to top-half-of-the-table hopefuls.

“I’m delighted with this win. We had not even scored a goal in a local derby this season, so it was important to get the win tonight,” enthused Ball.

“People will say that we were playing a weakened team, but Bury are a top 10 side for a reason. They went to Lowestoft and won recently, so we couldn’t take them lightly.

“I thought we played particularly well in the first half, in what were very difficult conditions with a heavy pitch and a strong wind.

“We knew that set-pieces were going to be key, and so it proved this evening. We had been practising them, and we managed some good deliveries into the box.

“I thought we could have scored a few more than our two goals in the first half, but this was still a fairly comfortable 2-0 win.

“The second half was more of a non-event, with the pitch cutting up.

“I’m not getting carried away, but results have been good and we have been climbing the table. Who knows where this will take us?”, added Ball.

Bury boss Richard Wilkins said: “We were massively depleted, defensively. We said before the game that the one method they might score from would be corners or long throw-ins, and that’s what happened.

“I thought the first one (Hubble goal) was a foul on Marcus (Garnham). But I’m delighted with how we stuck at it, especially my younger players, and I thought Liam (Wales) was terrific. Hopefully, I might be able to get another defender in before Saturday,” added Wilkins.