Ledbury Town Football Club

Match report

Kieran Loveridge gestures to local referee Nick Fish before taking a 28th minute free kick which led to Alistair Holder knocking the ball wide of the far post, as home man of the match and hat-trick scorer that evening Tom Skittery looks on from the foreground (📸: Chris Ponter)

Hot on the heels of Ledbury Town’s emphatic Herefordshire Football League Premier Division 11-0 demolition of Gloucester City Under 21s a fortnight ago, a similarly extremely muddy New Street venue witnessed a further huge home win this week under the floodlights as Ledbury Town Reserves struck a magnificent seven in a second Division One meeting of the season against Bartestree.

Having already defeated the team occupying the spot just above them in the table in their last game of 2022 back in early December at Bartestree’s ground, when a Sam Branch brace and a further goal from Kane Bruton could only be matched by a second-half consolation goal from veteran home player Paul Kaye, the biggest victory for David Butcher and Harry Powell’s second string in recent memory saw man of the match Tom Skittery notch up a hat-trick as captain Callum Blackmore-Davey, along with upcoming Ledbury Town Swifts youngsters Harry Millis and Tom Goodwin were also on target as the visitors inadvertently added a late own goal to the reserves’ illustrious tally.

Skittery was first to strike during a dominant attacking first half from the hosts with a ball which narrowly flew over the crossbar, before an opposing forward was solidly blocked by Ledbury goalkeeper Joshua Worrell back upfield.

The tenth minute saw a further Bartestree striker sneak a shot just underneath Jai Smallwood attempting a sliding deflection in front of him as the effort was saved on the ground by Worrell, before Branch fed the ball across goal back downfield to see Kieran Loveridge just miss out on connecting with the header.

Brad Potter slid to retrieve the ball on the near wing, getting it to Loveridge whose cross saw Skittery rattle the near post, swiftly before Alistair Holder struck a long ball from towards the far sideline which was briefly fumbled and then recovered just in the nick of time on the ground by the visiting keeper.

The quarter-hour mark saw a twenty-yard thunderbolt from seventeen-year-old Jake Clueit blocked in painful-sounding fashion by an unfortunate opposing defender who would have doubtless felt the impact the following morning, before a similar powerful short-range shot from Matti Holder was denied by the Bartestree goaltender’s feet at the near post as Branch sent a 25-yard ball over the bar.

A further aerial effort from Skittery went much the same way as the reserves struggled to keep their play grounded, even if Branch soon went on to take the ball past the visiting keeper from the far wing to produce a brilliant cross which was neatly finished by Skittery to get his side off the mark.

Loveridge did well to retain possession against a number of defenders in the treacherous slippery conditions on the near wing, feeding the ball in only for it to be deflected over the touchline by a further member of the opposing back-line to give the same home forward a corner ball which was nodded over the woodwork by Branch.

Dave Preece volleyed the ball well wide of the target as local referee for the evening Nick Fish blew the whistle for a Ledbury free kick, again taken by Loveridge to the left of the three Bartestree players forming the wall as it was collected by Alistair Holder to be knocked wide of the far post.

Skittery was denied a brace at least for the time-being half an hour in through his shot being blocked from just inside the box by a visiting defender, before Branch made a good turn to retrieve the ball in the box as penalty calls were brushed aside by Fish when the regular reserves striker was brought down by the opposition near the touchline.

Loveridge then raced down the near side of the box as the Bartestree goaltender scrambled to retrieve his cross-shot in the muddy goalmouth with Skittery in the mix, before Branch left it a little too late to pull the trigger in the box, eventually being relieved of possession by a group of surrounding defenders as a combination of Skittery and Loveridge couldn’t quite manage to recover the attack.

Blackmore-Davey’s header then netted a superb corner ball from Loveridge nine minutes from the interval, with Skittery completing his double barely two minutes into the latter half of play as Clueit also took full advantage of the extremely slippery conditions in performing a great sliding tackle on the near wing.

Branch was substituted for Goodwin on the 50th minute as Smallwood made a strong physical sliding challenge of his own, before Skittery made a run upfield to see his cross-shot being met with a diving catch from the visiting keeper as Preece was exchanged for Nick Bolton.

The hosts’ second substitute player was swiftly thrown down to the floor after making a challenge against a fiery opposing defender who was lucky to receive only a verbal warning from Fish, before a shot from a Bartestree attacker advancing into the box flanked by Blackmore-Davey and Matti Holder either side of him was comfortably saved by Worrell.

Loveridge struck a 63rd minute free kick past a further trio of visiting players to be met with a solid clearing header from another opposing defender, before Matti Holder left the field for promising Swifts’ youngster Archie Badham to put in a shift for the Ledbury second string.

Skittery’s treble was quickly followed by Millis putting a fifth goal away for the reserves through his first touch after entering the action for Clueit, cleanly slicing a cross into the back of the net as a well-staffed home subs bench that evening saw Luke Cox enter the fray with Skittery retiring for the final twenty minutes at a job well done.

Clueit returned to the field for Potter a few minutes after Bartestree were shown the only yellow card of the encounter for a late challenge upfield, with the visitors’ own goal going into the final ten minutes being followed by Goodwin providing the icing on a truly delicious and sizeable cake for Butcher and Powell’s victorious squad.

Butcher was thrilled with his side’s performance on the night:

“That result was a long time coming, and I really couldn’t fault anyone. For once, we finally took all of our chances.”

“Everyone played their part, including the three lads coming up from the Swifts with two of them even getting themselves on the scoresheet.”

“With just four league games left this season, hopefully this big win will give us the motivation we need to get a good few more points on the board come the end of the season.”

Now closing the gap on both Bartestree and Kington Town Reserves in fifth to just a single point, with a massive 33 goal advantage over the former side, the Ledbury second string begin their late season mid-table challenge with a visit to Broomy Hill to play basement boys Hinton Reserves this coming Saturday, before making the lengthy trip to Mill Street to face Kington’s second outfit the following weekend (both games KO 2:30pm).

A penultimate game of the season will take place away to lowly Holme Lacy Reserves on Wednesday 19th April (KO 7:00pm), before Butcher and Powell’s side end their 2022/23 campaign by taking on formidable fourth place holders Ewyas Harold at home on the last Saturday of the month (KO 2:30pm).

The New Street second string have already achieved two victories over the bottom table holders this season, with a convincing 4-0 Herefordshire FA Junior Cup first round victory at Broomy Hill at the start of October when Branch scored a hat-trick with Bruton also on target being followed by a 3-1 league win at the same venue at the end of the month, as the hosts’ sole consolation goal came courtesy of substitute player Bradley Matthews as Ledbury man of the match Loveridge found a brace with Bolton also hitting the net.

Butcher and Powell’s team recorded a goalless draw against Kington Reserves at New Street in their first league game of 2023 towards the start of February, going on to suffer a disappointing 5-2 defeat against the Holme Lacy second string again at home a fortnight later when a Nathan Taylor-Woodward treble, along with goals from team-mates Oliver Kitching and Harry Willett outnumbered the two second-half goals scored for Ledbury by Loveridge, taking the man of the match accolade once more and Blackmore-Davey.

The reserves also have a score to settle against Ewyas Harold, having been dealt two defeats by the Welsh border outfit earlier in the season in being knocked out of the first round of the Ross Cup in a muddy midweek encounter under the floodlights at New Street in mid-October, when a Luke Price brace and additional goal from Matthew Norton overcame the 40th minute opener from Loveridge and very late goal from man of the match Alistair Holder, before a second 2-1 loss resulted away on Bonfire Night when Ledbury’s only goal came from Preece as Norton and Price again netted for the hosts.