Ledbury Town Football Club

Ledbury Town returned to the top of the Herefordshire FA County League Premier Division this week with a stellar comeback against top league goalscorers so far this season Hereford Pegasus Reserves, going on to win 3-2 despite being two goals down after an hour of play at New Street.

Ian Merrick’s resolute squad held firm throughout the first period of play, as a combination of strong defending from captain Matt Rooke, Tom Trigg, Dale Taylor and Asten Griffiths together with Pegasus failing to capitalize from a number of corner ball opportunities kept the scoreline goalless come the interval, before Owen Bolton lobbed Ledbury keeper Joshua Worrell to break the deadlock on the 55^thminute.

Tom Dixon finished a cross at the far post just seven minutes later to put the reserves firmly in the driving seat, only for their lead to be short-lived when one of their defenders inadvertently knocked a cross from Town man of the match that day Tom Boyle into his own net.

Third Town substitute player that afternoon Alistair Holder flicked in a well-placed free kick from Scott Roberts to level the score within four minutes of the visitors opening their scoring account, before fortune favoured the hosts once more as referee for the day Jonathan Williams awarded them a penalty when Boyle was brought down during one of several runs he made that day down the near wing into the box.

The spot kick was confidently converted by Roberts to huge cheers around Ledbury’s well-attended historic ground, as Merrick’s men added another important victory to the 2-1 win achieved away at former league champions Clee Hill United seven days previously.

Following a well-observed minute’s silence in honour of all those who have given their lives in conflict as part of Remembrance weekend, a nervy Town start saw an opening corner ball being dropped by home goalkeeper Joshua Worrell as a Hereford-based striker put the ball narrowly over the bar, before a superb tenth minute sliding challenge from Rooke relieved an opposing forward of possession on the near sideline.

A series of controlled defensive headers from Taylor and his skipper were successful in getting the ball safely back to Worrell, before a corner ball from Roberts back upfield was deflected out to Boyle, whose cross-shot back into the box saw Dwayne Tyndale nod the ball wide of the far post.

A good deflection from Rooke over the touchline saw Worrell make a solid catch after the resulting corner ball was played wide to a Pegasus marksman who fired a cross-shot past Roberts, before a further cross-shot from Boyle bounced off the corner of the net back up the far end.

Taylor doggedly pursued a reserves attacker on the ball before making an exceptionally-timed challenge just outside the box, and after Roberts curled an effort wide of the woodwork, Worrell made another clean save to keep the top goalscorers at bay.

Griffiths performed a crucial defensive block in the box as the visitors continued to squander a number of corner ball set-pieces, before a potential goal for Boyle on the 28^thminute was disallowed on the grounds of the opposing linesman running the far sideline displaying an offside flag.

Further tenacious work from Taylor saw the new home signing this season chase down a Pegasus striker on the run with the ball down the near wing before cutting in and knocking the ball away over the sideline, with the Ledbury back-line continuing to hold up well as Trigg, Rooke and Griffiths made further blocks in order to keep the visitors out.

Josh Burns had to be substituted earlier than expected for George Walker on the 35^thminute through a knee injury which put paid to his game, and after two efforts from the reserves went wide, sending a signal to Town that the danger was very much still there, Walker put in some good covering work towards the corner flag as the score nevertheless remained level at the break.

Things heated up a little going into the latter half of play as the official saw fit to have words with an aggrieved midfielder in red and white just before Roberts took a free kick from the near wing, with the city-based keeper then managing to punch away a corner ball while under pressure in the goalmouth as Nathan Ince mis-timed a volley on the rebound when the ball bounced awkwardly in front of him at the edge of the box.

Ince’s missed chance to finally break the stalemate saw his side swiftly punished as the opposition’s overhead ball upfield allowed Bolton to lob Worrell, before a further free kick from Roberts, given by the referee after he judged a Pegasus midfielder to have performed a foul in front of Sam Branch, despite the offending player ending up on the floor in the centre-circle, led to Taylor firing the ball wide of the target from the far wing.

Merrick saw fit to make a double change of personnel with twenty minutes of the second period having passed as Pete Jeynes and Holder came on to replace Griffiths and Ince, before a well-placed cross from the reserves was finished by Dixon at the far end to leave the hosts with all to do if they were to claim at least a point from this latest upper table league clash.

The good seventy-strong crowd of Ledbury supporters didn’t have to wait long for the comeback to begin however, as Boyle’s cross after making a further strong run down the near wing was deflected into the net by the visiting defender aiming to keep the ball away from Branch running in behind him, before Roberts’ free kick allowed Holder to swiftly level the score.

The 73^rdminute saw a further stroke of luck occur for a revitalized Town outfit, when another determined run from Boyle ended with him being felled in the box, with Roberts wasting no time in firing the spot kick upwards to strike the underside of the netting, turning the game on its head.

The Hereford outfit reminded the hosts that they could not afford to rest on their laurels having achieving their new lead as an effort sailed narrowly over both a leaping Worrell and the bar, with Holder having to make a pivotal block in the box as Curt Williams came on for Branch with ten minutes to go.

Ledbury’s final substitute player that day wasted no time in making his presence on the pitch felt as it took an opposing defender to deny him of a finish just in front of goal following yet another pacy Boyle run from with a cross again being delivered while under pressure on the touchline, and, after Pegasus made a final substitution of their own, some decidedly static defending from the reserves saw a free kick from Williams towards the far sideline landing straight in the hands of the visiting keeper.

Boyle, Roberts and Jeynes all became involved in some sustained tussling play with the ball along the near sideline as the match entered its closing minutes, culminating in Williams firing one final effort over the bar as a clearly-delighted Town squad and manager celebrated a superb comeback against formidable opposition to give them two big league wins on the bounce.

Ledbury must now carry this momentum forward to face an even bigger test on Wednesday evening, hosting Pegasus’ first team under the floodlights at New Street in the quarter-finals of the prestigious Herefordshire FA County Challenge Cup competition (KO 7:45pm), exactly a month after Merrick’s side caused a major upset in knocking current title holders Hereford Lads Club out of the first round with an emphatic 6-0 home victory courtesy of braces from Boyle and Burns, with Ince and Roberts also on target.

Town then have a final league game to conclude an exciting month of November, travelling to Ewyas Harold this coming weekend (KO 2:00pm).