Dereham Town manager MAtt Henman writes:Although we went in to Saturday's match at Leiston wanting to gain league points, the most important thing was that we gave a good performance and a positive reaction following the previous week's embarrassment against Mattishall.

Dereham Town manager MAtt Henman writes:

Although we went in to Saturday's match at Leiston wanting to gain league points, the most important thing was that we gave a good performance and a positive reaction following the previous week's embarrassment against Mattishall.

Although a 3-0 defeat sounds convincing, nothing could be further from the truth as we more than matched Leiston in every department apart from the all-important finishing of chances.

The game was very competitive with challenges flying in from both sides and the referee struggling to keep a lid on things.

Although I don't like to see our players receive bookings we at least showed great fight and the yellow cards that followed were a testament to us sticking by each other.

I'm aware that we have a reputation for being a good footballing side but not being the strongest physically. On Saturday we proved we can mix it against by far the most physical side we'll play all year, the challenge now is producing that aggression week in, week out to complement our undoubted talent.

On the day, crucial points in the game went against us. We had a 'goal' disallowed at 1-0 down just before they scored their second in injury time and in the second half we missed another great chance and had a penalty saved before they wrapped the game up with a third.

Hopefully our supporters who travelled to the game appreciated the efforts of the lads and saw that as a group we are all committed to the club and making sure we finish the season as strongly as possible.

My other task between now and the end of the season is to look at the bigger picture and try to give first team experience to some of our younger players with a view to next year.

We have attracted some very talented young players to the club this season, borne out by the fact that we have eight players named in the latest county youth squad and many more who have the potential to become first team players.

In fact I can honestly say that there is not one player playing in the reserves and under-18s who doesn't have a realistic chance of playing in the first team. I'm not sure whether any other club in the county can say that.