NON-LEAGUE: Craig Edwards says Billericay Town bouncing back to crush play-off rivals Leiston and defy their critics in the process made for a very satisfying night.

Town beat sixth-placed Leiston 4-0 at New Lodge to climb into 11th and move to within only four points of the final play-off place, with a game in hand.

Goals from Rowan Liburd, Affy Obafemi, Steve Sheehan and an own goal put Leiston to the sword, who had Danny Cunningham dismissed for a head butt on Town’s Glenn Poole.

And manager Edwards, below, said his side was “exceptional”, against a side that had previously criticised Billericay’s style of football.

“We were exceptional. Leiston are another team who have given us some stick over the years for playing a ‘long ball’ game and it is something that has caught on. It used to irritate me but now I love it. They couldn’t get near us and it was ‘ole’ football at times.

“The opposition going down to 10 men doesn’t always mean you are going to win but we had been the only team in the game up to that point.

“We are one of a cluster of teams below them at the same level and it was good to see us take one of them to the cleaners.”

The win came after back-to-back defeats in the league to Maidstone United and Hendon saw them drop off the pace in their play-off bid.

Town only submitted a squad list of 13 players for the match, with Edwards calling on Ross Kitteridge to fill in for the injured Joe Wright in goal, while Jack Edwards, Richard Halle and Harry Baker also missed out.

“We only had 13 players,” he said. “I managed to get Ross Kitteridge in but I think I could have played in goal the amount of chances we limited them to.

“I was really pleased. We had a young side and had copped quite a bit of flack for losing our last two home games. But it was against the two best sides in the division. We played well against Maidstone and were poor against Hendon but we will keep pace with anyone else.

“And we need to push on against Canvey Island this weekend.”