Leiston manager Glenn Driver was left purring after watching his side hammer Suffolk rivals Needham Market, 5-1, at Victory Road.

Two goals from Byron Lawrence, plus strikes from Gareth Heath, Patrick Brothers and Niko Muir stunned the Marketmen, as the Blues consolidated their place in the Ryman Premier play-offs against a side that remain second-top.

“That’s been coming for a while, we have started well in games then fell away,” said Driver.

“That first-half performance was frightening and it was probably the best we have played since we played Needham away (Leiston won 4-0).

“It was something else – the killer goal came on half-time, it was a sucker-punch for them – but let’s face it, we could have been six or seven-up if we are being honest.

“We then started the second-half with a high tempo and that was important.”

The game was in sharp contrast to Saturday’s lacklustre 1-1 home draw with Enfield, in which the Blues were decidedly under-par.

Wing-backs, Seb Dunbar and Ollie Brown were particularly impressive.

“We picked the same personnel in the wing-back roles against Enfield, but I watched the game between Watford and Tottenham and saw Spurs’ wing-backs get forward,” Driver explained.

“You have got to do that, while bringing Tom Bullard back was massive, he gets hold of people in front of him and controls things.

“Our wing-backs were frightening in the first half and Byron Lawrence came to the party today, he has been missing in games recently, but that will have done him no harm.”

Opposition manager Mark Morsley, was less enthusiastic about his team’s performance.

“We have always felt we have a bit of a soft underbelly,” he said.

“I don’t quite know what happened today but too many of our players did not perform from the off in a local derby.

“Whether players thought about how comprehensively we were beaten by Leiston in August, I don’t know, but we looked a bit timid, a bit frightened.

“We did not win any second balls at all and players that have been really exceptional for us have been really poor.”

He added: “The third goal was a disgrace really because we had time to clear the ball, we dithered instead of smashing the ball into Row Z.

“But they could have had a dozen goals, they were that much better than us, we had two corners in the whole game, it was a really bad day.”