LEISTON'S long season will come to an end today with an appearance in their first ever Ridgeons League Cup final. After an exhilarating run to the first round of the FA Cup and their longest ever run in the FA Vase, the Suffolk club's season petered out somewhat after Christmas and the title hopefuls had to settle for a seventh-place finish.

Stuart Watson

LEISTON'S long season will come to an end today with an appearance in their first ever Ridgeons League Cup final.

After an exhilarating run to the first round of the FA Cup and their longest ever run in the FA Vase, the Suffolk club's season petered out somewhat after Christmas and the title hopefuls had to settle for a seventh-place finish.

But Carl Chenery's side - whose number of games will come to a grand total of 62 - could yet finish the season with some silverware to show for their efforts if they can win at Diss Town today (3pm).

They will face tough opposition in the form of Stanway Rovers though - the Essex side having enjoyed a strong run to the final themselves.

Stanway boss Rob Bate - who jointly manages the side with Paul Symes - said: “There will be decent quality on both sides. There's always potential for goals in our team because we create a lot of chances. We are a confident group and we know we have got the ability to win this competition.”

Chenery makes three changes to the squad that ended the league campaign with a 2-0 win at Haverhill on Saturday. Michael Brothers is cup tied, however Marc Lowe, who missed his first game of the season on Saturday after 61 consecutive appearances, returns to the squad, as does Mark Goldfinch who also missed Saturday's win due to a heel injury.

The Suffolk side have also been boosted by the return of striker Lee McGlone who lost his leading goalscorer tag to midfielder Stuart Boardley on Saturday when he notched his 24th goal of the season.

Stanway finished their season with a 3-2 defeat at CRC on Saturday, a result which saw the Essex side finish ninth in the table.

The Essex side have two notable absentees today in the form of Nathan Sharp, who tweaked his thigh on Saturday, and Ed Kirby, who is unavailable for personal reasons.

Leiston have had a difficult run to the final, having won on the road at Lowestoft, Kirkley & Pakefield and Halstead before overcoming a strong Histon Reserves side in the semi-final.

Meanwhile, Stanway will be full of confidence following their 4-1 away win over CRC in the semi-finals. Previous to that the Essex side had beaten Hadleigh, Woodbridge and Dereham in their cup run.

Today's squads

Leiston squad: Jamie Stannard, Alan Wagner, Brett Girling, Chris Palmer, Shane Wardley, Joe Button, Mark Goldfinch, David Head, Liam Manning, Carl Chenery, Dan Morphew, Stuart Boardley, Marc Lowe, Kelsey Trotter, Luke Eagle, Lee McGlone, Will Stephenson and James Rowe.

Stanway squad: Rob Bate, Paul Symes, Michale Church, Alex Drennan, Keith Emmerson, Lee Norfolk, Rob Thorne, Sam Sines, Tim Dennis, Ross Norfolk, Micheal Burch, Luke Callander, Martin Curtis, Jermaine Harewood, Ben Newson, Sam Newson, Kevin Hughes, Liam Bailey and Angelo Harrop.