Ledbury Town Football Club

Match report

Man of the match Ben Febery, Ryan Pugh and George Walker after congratulating James Kenny to the left of them after the Ledbury Young Player Award winner of last season scored his side’s fourth goal that evening five minutes from time (📸: Chris Ponter)

Following a first real falter of the season seven days previously, when a 2-2 draw at home against nearest rivals at the time Kington Town brought a remarkable seven-game winning streak to an end, Ledbury Town returned to winning ways this week in a further Friday night fixture under the floodlights at New Street, putting in an altogether more confident and assured performance for a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Ludlow Town Colts.

Despite Ludlow always being a dark horse of the competition and being highly formidable over recent seasons, giving Ledbury some challenging games and even coming back from a 3-0 deficit at half-time to beat Kington 4-3 at home at the start of this month, prolific Town striker Tom Boyle added another stellar goal to his tally less than a minute after referee for the evening Simon Gibson had blown the starting whistle, before the hosts went on to bag the crucial second goal of the first period which eluded them last week through Josh Burns on the 20th minute.

A scare from the Colts five minutes from the interval was averted through a combination of Ledbury goalkeeper Alex Goode and trusty Town defender Dale Taylor, with the visitors failing to really threaten over the course of the next 45 minutes as home captain Joel Skyers and Ledbury Young Player Award winner of last season James Kenny both extended the final score in favour of Ian Merrick’s high-flying squad before the evening was up.

A stunning drop kick from Boyle started the affair in explosive fashion, before an opening tenth minute free kick from the opposition was powerfully struck past the trio of Ledbury defenders forming the wall before being met with a solid save from Goode.

A foul from Town committed in midfield on the far wing gave Ludlow a second spot kick which was nodded clear by Tom Trigg, before James Febery also used his head in a very literal sense to good effect at the edge of the box to see Skyers felled not far in front of him, giving hardworking home man of the match that night Ben Febery the opportunity to take a first Ledbury free kick of the evening.

New Town signing from Newent this season Cosmin Micula received a first yellow card of the night through a combination of a late challenge followed by dissent, even if Burns more than made up for this initial booking five minutes later through slipping the ball past the Colts keeper even while under pressure from the two defenders behind him.

A charge downfield from the visitors saw both Micula and Ben Febery fall with nothing being given by Gibson, with Trigg duly repaying the favour through leaping out with another well-placed defensive header as Micula struck the ball well wide of the far post back upfield after receiving a good ball from the near wing.

An ill-advised challenge bringing down Burns from behind on the edge of the centre-circle earned opposing captain Luke Hicks the second yellow card of the night, before an eventful 40th minute saw a pacy Ludlow striker race downfield taking full advantage of a controversial ruling from Gibson in favour of his side, going on to produce a strong close-range effort which was denied through a terrific save from Goode as Taylor then played a pivotal role in maintaining the hosts’ clean sheet via a magnificent clearance off the line and over the crossbar to thwart the follow-up effort.

Referee from the previous week’s encounter against Kington Adrian Rocke flagged Ledbury offside twice in quick succession from the far sideline going into the break, as other Town newcomer this season Ryan Pugh replaced Micula over the interval.

The second period began with consecutive corner balls from Skyers and Ben Febery failing to provide their side with a third goal, even if this all changed barely four minutes later when Skyers managed to lob the Colts goaltender in unusual fashion as the slow bouncing ball snuck over the line, before the hosts continued to threaten with a great cross-shot from Burns on the far wing being caught by a visiting keeper making a swift dive in front of Boyle.

The opposing goaltender showed rather less assurance however when a further corner ball from Ben Febery was caught before being briefly fumbled and returned to him via a short header from one of his defenders, before Boyle slipped the ball wide of the far post while under pressure from two members of the Ludlow back-line.

A Colts free kick past Lewis Williams and Pugh provided nothing of value for the struggling visitors as Pugh strongly knocked the ball on from the near side of the box back downfield to see it denied only through a decent block from the opposing keeper, before Boyle, eager to target the impressive league Golden Boot-winning total of 29 goals scored last season, managed to take the ball past the Ludlow goaltender only to see his effort cleared off the line by a quick-thinking defender.

Williams was swapped for Pete Jeynes in a second Ledbury substitution as Pugh’s cross from the near wing was nodded over the woodwork by Burns leaping up in the box, before fancy footwork from the newer Town player saw him put the ball through a defender’s legs on the touchline in front of the near post, even if the home newcomer couldn’t produce anything further from this flashy bit of skill.

A further corner ball from Ben Febery was punched away from the numerous bodies in the box by a Colts keeper launching off his line, and, after Chris Wickham entered the fray in exchange for Burns in a third Ledbury change of personnel, a 75th minute moment of controversy occurred when a visiting defender was brought down on the edge of the box in an apparently fair challenge from Town, only for Gibson to give a free kick to the black and red shirts to baffled shouts of disagreement from the sizeable crowd of home supporters, who strongly felt that their side had won a corner.

A double Ledbury substitution saw Kenny and Pat Morgan come on for James Febery and Skyers respectively for the remaining ten minutes as the opposition made a final change of their own, with the latter of these last two Town entrants on to the field soon making his presence felt through advancing down the far side of the box and seeing his great strike stopped by a superb diving save from the Ludlow goaltender at the far post.

The ensuing corner ball proved valuable for the hosts however, eventually being slotted in by Kenny following a goalmouth scramble, with Pugh then managing to outwit Sam Thomas on the far sideline only for the Colts defender to retaliate with a terrible challenge, being lucky to escape a straight red card as he instead became the final player to end up in Gibson’s book that night.

The visiting keeper performed two final good saves to prevent Ledbury from hitting five as they went on to celebrate going seven points and fourteen goals clear at the top of the table, even if this lead was cut to four points the following day through Hereford Pegasus Reserves’ 3-2 victory away at Fownhope.

In summing up the game, Merrick was generally happy with his side’s performance on the night, while also looking ahead to a very busy remainder of October:

“We played well in patches; a pleasing result with a good scoreline. We kept a clean sheet with four different goalscorers, and it was great to again be playing in front of a good crowd under the floodlights.”

“We’ve got a big week next week with three games in seven days, Saturday, Wednesday and Saturday. We know what Hereford Pegasus are all about, we’ve been rivals now for the last season and a bit.”

“They’re a quality side and will push us all the way, but we’ve got to go over there and play our game, set the approach right, and hopefully come away with a positive result.”

Ledbury will be facing none other than the Pegasus second string in the league this coming Saturday (KO 2:30pm), playing at Old School Lane for the second time in a month after a brace from Boyle and a further goal from Ben Febery weren’t enough to prevent Town’s first round Herefordshire FA Charity Bowl game this season from going to penalties against the current title holders, as Corey Ellis, Harvey Evans and substitute player Charlie Jenkins all scored for the hosts.

Pugh, Zac Blood and Ben Febery all put away their respective spot kicks however, with Goode making a pair of great saves to send his side through to the next round of a contest they reached the final of last season, losing out 3-1 to the Reserves at the Herefordshire FA County Ground when Saul Thomas picked up a brace and Harvey Evans was also on target for Pegasus, as Ledbury’s sole goal came courtesy of George Walker.

Merrick’s men then travel to league newcomers and basement boys Gloucester City Under 21s at Meadow Park on Wednesday 26th October (KO 7:30pm), before playing Westfields Development, also new to the league at allpay.park the following Saturday (KO 2:30pm).