REDDITCH United boss Matt Clarke believes the Reds produced their best performance of the season in an impressive 3-1 win against title-chasing Leiston.
The Reds took an early lead through Bernard Mensah before Ryan Wollacott and Danny King struck either side of the break in a vintage display at the Trico Stadium.
And the result means Redditch sit eighth in the Southern League Premier Central table as the Reds responded to their 1-0 home defeat to promotion-hopefuls Coalville Town last weekend in style.
Clarke said: “The boys were outstanding, the disappointing aspect is that we should have had seven or eight goals, we were that good.
“There was a real emphasis on us just having a go, overall it was a very good night’s work, it was probably our best performance of the season.
“Leiston have had one defeat in 24 games, they’re a really good side, it was important we started brightly and we scored after five minutes.
“The impetus now is for us to go on and get more points on the board, the target is to finish in the top-10 and we believe that we can.
“It’s good for us to not have that pressure of looking over your shoulder, we’re clear of the relegation zone, we’re probably going to be safe and let’s just go and get as many points as we can.”
And Redditch took the lead on five minutes when Mensah reacted quickest to turn a loose ball home from close range after Leiston goalkeeper Sam Donkin could only parry Riley O’Sullivan’s shot into the scorer’s path.
The home side doubled their lead on 38 minutes when Wollacott smashed the ball high into the net after the ball fell kindly into his path from Max Sheaf’s initial free-kick.
Redditch sealed the points on 78 minutes as King capped off a fine performance with a goal as he powered the ball home following a clever dummy by Reece Flanagan.
The visitors netted a late consolation when Ben Fowkes finished into the left corner from William Davies’s pass.
Redditch are next in action away at Barwell on Saturday, March 4 with kick-off at 3pm at Kirkby Road.
