Ledbury Town Football Club

Match report

Morgan Skidmore, man of the match and brace-scorer Josh Burns, Pete Jeynes, Ben Febery, James Kenny and captain Joel Skyers congratulate Pat Morgan after the second Ledbury substitute player completed a double of his own within two minutes going into the final quarter-hour of play (📸: Chris Ponter)

Following a remarkable 4-1 comeback after going 1-0 down at half-time against Welland earlier in the week, Ledbury Town re-established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the Herefordshire Football League Premier Division this weekend with an altogether much more convincing and assured demolition of Hinton at New Street, finding the net on no fewer than seven occasions even if Ian Merrick’s stellar squad just missed out on the clean sheet.

Ledbury man of the match for a second consecutive game Josh Burns opened the scoring on the 20th minute, and, even if Town perhaps took their foot off the gas towards the end of the first period with a noticeable lack of urgency, a late first-period goal from Ben Febery galvanized the hosts into a far more dominant latter half playing downhill.

Tom Boyle soon found a third for the black and white shirts, before the top Ledbury goalscorer and league Golden Boot winner of last season netted a penalty four minutes after Hinton substitute player Robert Gonsales found what was to be his side’s only consolation goal of the affair.

Town substitute player Pat Morgan went on to find the net twice within two minutes, before Burns completed a trio of home braces on the brink of the final whistle to see his side go six points and an impressive twelve goals clear at the top of the table.

With Zac Blood, Asten Griffiths, Burns and Febery all making up Ledbury’s starting line-up after proving their worth in the stellar turnaround four days previously, Town supporters were nearly able to take full advantage of their club’s generous new ‘three-pound pints for ten minutes after every home goal’ offer three minutes from the starting whistle when Tom Trigg volleyed the ball wide at the near post up at the far end of the field.

Two consecutive early corner balls from Ledbury captain Joel Skyers, with Burns forcing the second set-piece saw Trigg again miss out on getting his name on the scoresheet within the first ten minutes of play, before an opening free kick from Skyers was struck past the two-man wall of visiting defenders to meet the head of another member of the opposing back-line at the far post.

The follow-up effort from Griffiths was met with a solid blocked from a further opposing defender as a second spot kick from the Town skipper from near the away dugout led to a volley from Dale Taylor being denied only through a great diving single-palmed save from Hinton goalkeeper Neil Marshall.

The rush for the discounted pints then began when Burns opened the hosts’ scoring account with a great finish, before a third Skyers free kick was again struck past a trio of visiting players forming the wall to see Marshall make the save at the far post, although not without fumbling the ball over the touchline for a corner.

The set-piece was delivered by Febery to see his captain miss the connection, before the opposition sparked to life on the half-hour mark when a great ball from the far wing met an upwards clearance from Trigg as Alex Goode saved a follow-up effort in one of the relatively few pieces of work the new Ledbury goaltender had to perform all game.

Burns then came down with an injury back upfield on the near wing, although with the star Town player that afternoon being able to shrug off the injury as a lengthier stoppage to the game on the 35th minute saw a Hinton forward being treated for an injury near the centre-spot as the hosts sportingly played the ball back to Marshall for a goal kick to continue the affair.

A threatening effort from Skyers charging towards the box upfield was denied by Marshall, with an effort from Boyle in a similar position to his captain being met with a similar result as the ensuing corner ball from Skyers was again unable to provide his team with the security of a second goal before the interval.

Goode’s frustrated calls for his side to pick up the pace and sense of urgency however was soon followed by the valuable buffer being attained when Febery drilled the ball home, before two further Ledbury efforts were thwarted by a visiting keeper who had done much to keep the Town scoreline at bay during the opening period of play.

Burns was relieved of possession by an opposing defender on the far wing upfield as one final Hinton free kick before the break provided Goode with a fairly easy save, before the second period began with Boyle’s cross from the corner flag after being hotly-pursued by a Hinton defender down the near sideline being knocked wide of the near post by Chris Wickham.

A first home corner ball of the latter half of play was nodded over the woodwork by Febery as veteran referee Les Coultas brandished the first yellow card of the game to Gonsales for bringing the same Ledbury youngster down on the edge of the box, before the spot kick from Febery was fired well over the target.

Burns then put the ball on top of the netting from the touchline as an apparent foul from Skyers on the literal edge of the box gave Marshall a free kick opportunity, before a later spot kick from the Town captain in front of his own dugout was nodded wide of the far post.

Boyle put his side three ahead on the 60th minute as Griffiths was substituted for Young Player Award winner of last season James Kenny, with a cross shot from Burns being dealt with by a visiting defender shortly before a cross-shot from Boyle on the touchline was seized by Marshall at the near post.

Gonsales pulled one back for his side through heading home from a corner as Blood was swapped for Morgan in a second change of personnel from the hosts’ well-staffed subs bench that afternoon, before a handball appeal against Boyle, running in along the touchline to try and make something of an attack involving Burns and Morgan went ignored by Coultas.

The official then deemed Ledbury’s latest substitute player to have been fouled in the box to see Boyle coolly put away the resulting penalty and restore his side’s three-goal lead, before Febery nodded the first of two Town corner balls on to Boyle, who missed a follow-up header while under pressure from a defender on the line as the second was headed by Morgan to be deflected by a further member of the opposing back-line at the near post.

Coultas then had words with an aggrieved Hinton defender over a free kick decision given in favour of the hosts, with the spot kick again taken by Skyers quickly leading to Morgan racing in to clinically header a great ball into the far side of the net to see the hosts hit five.

A visiting defender was then threatened with a sin bin dismissal from Coultas after felling Febery during a great attacking run from the Ledbury forward down the near sideline, as the ensuing free kick from the same Town player enabled Morgan to swiftly complete his brace with another perfectly-placed header.

Wickham and Febery left the field for Tom Watkins and Morgan Skidmore to take over for the remainder of the game as the latter of these two late home substitute players received a booking within minutes of entering the action for a late challenge committed in midfield, before an offside flag against Burns from the opposing linesman running the near sideline was met with a chorus of disapproving voices from Ledbury supporters.

Town’s top player of recent games had the last laugh however when Coultas failed to address a further offside flag shown by the same Hinton player, enabling him to take advantage of the confusion arising over whether the decision had been given to take a direct shot into the net to provide the icing on the cake for a jubilant home outfit come the final whistle.

Merrick was pleased with the result despite the shortcomings in the first period:

“The first half was a little bit disjointed even if we scored two lovely goals and passed well through the lines.”

“We put a bit more pressure on during the second half, going back to our normal 4-3-3 shape and the goals started to come quite nicely.”

“The latter half was a big improvement, even if we are not quite at the level I want us to be, but overall yes, it was a good performance.”

“We’re going to have to start better than we have done in recent weeks if we want to beat Kington as we’ve been a little bit slow out of the blocks, but with another big evening crowd down at New Street to get behind the lads, I think we’ll have a good chance at keeping our winning streak going.”

The biggest test of the season so far against current second place holders Kington Town, who are also currently unbeaten in the league will take place at Ledbury’s historic ground this coming Friday evening (KO 7:45pm), before a further Friday night fixture the week after sees them host fifth-placed Ludlow Town Colts (KO 7:30pm).