Kingstonian are up to third in the Ryman Premier after a convincing 2-0 victory against Leiston on Saturday and assistant coach Martin Tyler called for renewed focus on a promotion challenge.

“We’re starting another phase of the season really,” said Tyler.

“It’s a new month, the start of November, let’s clear our minds and get back to what we were doing well.

“The season’s been strange. We had that wonderful start, and then we’ve either lost or we’ve won, there have been no half measures.

"But we’re still in a very good position in the league, despite the disappointing cup results and we reminded the players of that.”

Routine home wins are not to be deprecated but this was a low-key affair on a heavy pitch, enlivened only by scrappy goals in each half.

Three points was an important marker after the damaging defeats at Margate, Folkestone and Lowestoft.

An early goal certainly helped. Tommy Kavanagh, so often K’s most consistent performer, latched on to a poor clearance in the fourth minute and his deflected strike evaded Danny Gay in the Leistongoal.

Rather than leading to an onslaught, the opening period settled into a patternless exchange of long balls, with the away team offering little more than numb resistance.

The last time this fixture was scheduled the Suffolk side had failed to show up, leading to the weekend’s rearranged match while the rest of the league were on FA Trophy duty.

In truth, Leiston still remained missing for much of the game. The Blues spent big in the summer but continue to languish at the bottom of the table and are notoriously poor beyond the Fens.

Kingstonian look disjointed in midfield but have enough steel at the back and bite upfront to win more than they lose. Just two points behind leaders Maidstone, and with no cup distractions, the league run before Christmas is far from daunting.

Ryan Moss eventually headed his 11th goal of the season with 20 minutes remaining from a Charlie Knight corner. Along with new signing Josh Casey, an accountant by profession, Knight and Moss played together at Bashley before joining K’s and are hoping to rediscover old understandings.

It hasn’t quite clicked yet. It will need to when Margate, another club with a significant wage bill, are the visitors next Saturday.