Pitching In Southern League Premier Central
Saturday 24th January 2026
Harborough Town (3) – (2) Leiston
Hickey (28’), Stephens (68’), Sullivan (71’); Clemons (31’), Fowkes (54’)
Player of the Match – Ben Stephens
Match Sponsor’s Player of the Match – Riley O’Sullivan
Attendance – 533
Report – Ben Monti
Photo – RB Media
Harborough Town come from behind to close the gap on league leaders Spalding with a hard-fought 3-2 victory at home to Leiston.
With the Bees setting their sights on automatic promotion and the visitors eyeing up a place in the playoffs, and having already drawn 2-2 earlier in the season, the stage was set for a tough battle.
Harborough started on the front foot, pinning Leiston into their own half early on but were unable to pick the lock, their closest effort coming from a dangerous Terell Pennant delivery. Leiston set up in a compact formation, looking threatening in transition. The Blues’ first opening came when Ben Fowkes whipped in from the left and Adam Mills met it perfectly on the volley, a clean strike flying just over.
The Bees continued to press. A poor back-pass from Eddie Jackson allowed Pennant to sprint through on goal, only for Billy Johnson to make himself big and deny the winger. George Carline then nodded on from a goal-kick to put Pennant in again, but this time his effort flew well wide.
The deadlock was finally broken just before the half-hour mark when Josh Walsh floated a long ball down the left flank for David Kamara, who drove forward, rounded the onrushing Johnson before skipping to the byline and pulling back for Brady Hickey to finish from the penalty spot.
Minutes later, Leiston responded in cruel fashion. Willie Clemons struck from the edge of the box, the ball taking a heavy deflection off Alex Morris before looping over Elliot Taylor to level the scores. A fortuitous moment for the Blues; however, the Bees will feel they could have closed Clemons down quicker.
Harborough thought they had retaken the lead straightaway when a corner resulted in a goalmouth scramble from which the ball appeared to have crossed the line. No goal was given, much to the dismay of the cheering fans behind the goal.
After the break, Harborough pushed for a second, allowing Leiston to break away. Mills released Fowkes down the left, who cut inside, wrong-footed Carline and drilled the ball past Elliot Taylor. The Bees responded well. A cleared corner fell to Ben Stephens on the edge of the box, who controlled superbly before striking on the half-bounce into the far corner to make the game 2-2. After the game, David Staff praised the forward, “he is extremely talented, the goal was a massive moment for us.”
Three minutes later, the comeback was complete. Kamara used his strength and power to burst down the right and square for substitute Riley O’Sullivan to slot home with finesse. Harborough saw out the final stages with relative ease to pick up three valuable points, Leiston failing to create any clear-cut chances.
Post-match David Staff acknowledged the impact of O’Sullivan coming on and the achievement of his side, “it felt right to bring Riley on, he brings an intensity and contributed to a couple of moments that made all the difference.” “I think we played really well against a very capable team. We had to be very careful of them on the break”.