Leighton Town boss ​Reed is pleased by start to year after Enfield romp

​They put in a fine display to win 5-1 at Enfield FC on New Year’s Day, Godlove Oppong hitting a hat-trick to cap an excellent performance.

But the widespread cold weather put paid to them following that up on Saturday, as the home game with Flackwell Heath was postponed due to a frozen pitch.

Speaking to the club’s media after the win at Enfield, Leighton boss Paul Reed was delighted to have got the year off to a flyer.

He said: “I was really pleased. We’d spoken in recent weeks about maybe not getting the reward for our efforts, but games are won and lost in both penalty areas and as the game went on I felt we got better and better at defending our box and, particularly in the second-half, we were excellent in the final third.

"We were a bit passive in the first-half so looked at a few things at half-time and changed some aspects and the quality in the group shone through.

"It’s my job to get the best out of this team. I believe we’ve recruited really well and we’ve retained well too, and it’s about shifting the mindset here for the players to believe they can go and put a really good run together and climb up the table to a respectable league position where I believe we should be.

"Being at the top end is still going to take time but results like at Enfield are a small step forwards in the right direction.”

Weather permitting, Leighton were due to head to Welwyn Garden City on Tuesday night in the league, after this week’s Observer had gone to press.

They’re then on the road twice more over the next week, at Beaconsfield Town on Saturday and then Biggleswade FC next Monday night, as they aim to continue climbing away from the relegation zone from which they go into the midweek games seven points clear, sat in 16th position.