Ledbury Town Football Club

Match report

Home captain Jai Smallwood and James Kenny leap for a defensive header to counter a corner ball from the opposition as Dave Preece looks on behind them in the box (: Chris Ponter)

Never had a league point seemed so disappointing than at New Street this weekend, as Ledbury Town Reserves took on Burghill Rangers in a third Herefordshire Football League Division One game of the season which saw chance after chance go begging for David Butcher’s young squad.

Those hoping for a goal-fest in this latest meeting between the two sides after Burghill defeated the Ledbury second string with 8-0 and 8-5 victories in the first rounds of the Herefordshire FA Junior Cup and Ross Cups respectively last season despite some less spectacular league results were to be bitterly disappointed on the day as the reserves missed countless opportunities from well-placed corner balls and decent crosses.

The precedent was set as early as the third minute when Alistair Holder nodded an opening corner ball from industrious young home man of the match George Walker over the bar, before Sam Branch was denied by the Rangers goalkeeper after receiving a good ball from the far wing to see the visitors being given the goal kick.

A very-much-unlucky thirteenth minute for Branch saw the regular Ledbury forward being unable to make a strong enough connection with the ball in order to trouble the opposing goaltender, before two further Walker corner balls saw Matti Holder force a Burghill forward over the near sideline and into a sponsorship board.

Walker was fouled on the 24th minute to see his resulting free kick being curled around the imposing five-man wall of Rangers defenders to be comfortably caught by their keeper, before two corner set-pieces couldn’t provide the visitors with an opening mark on the scoresheet as they went on to strike the ball well wide of the target following a run down the far wing.

The half-hour mark saw things becoming rather more heated as a foul from Alistair Holder saw his aggrieved opponent being lucky not to receive a yellow card for retaliation as referee for the day Edgar Sanha had words with both players, with a further free kick from Walker making it past the wall only to again be stopped by the Burghill goal guardian.

Kane Bruton then missed an aerial header as a Rangers ball over to the far wing was nodded wide by one of their forwards while under pressure from Sam Booth and Alistair Holder, before the 40th minute saw the reserves continue to squander set-pieces as Branch was unable to finish another corner ball from Walker, with Alistair Holder nodding a cross narrowly wide of the far post.

Home captain Jai Smallwood ended the first half of play with a good header to win possession and keep control of the ball near the touchline as the second period began with Branch missing two further corner ball opportunities, with the Ledbury forward’s frustration boiling over into striking a visiting defender in the foot for both a yellow card and a substitution in being brought off for Kieran Loveridge to take over.

Alistair Holder was then swapped for teenage newcomer last season Jacob Clueit as the opposition were booked over a reaction towards a foul, before yet another corner from Walker was nodded wayward by Matti Holder as Butcher’s side continued to rue countless missed chances.

This failure to finally open the scoring received a stark warning on the 60th minute when a strong Burghill effort from out of the blue rattled the woodwork upfield, before Loveridge battled well against a trio of defenders towards the corner flag to fire the ball into the side netting.

A frantic 70th minute saw Clueit not quite being able to produce the shot under pressure as his ball to Chris Wickham saw the effort from the first team midfielder being denied by the Rangers keeper, before Bruton ran in to see two close-range efforts at the near post as well as a final scuff all being somehow blocked by a seemingly-impenetrable visiting goaltender to leave reserves supporters aghast over how their side hadn’t scored by this point.

The resulting corner ball was again delivered by Walker to see Loveridge put the ball wide, and after Samuel Palmer-Young entered the fray for Booth, Clueit couldn’t take advantage of a failed upwards clearance as a throughball from the young forward saw an offside flag being raised by the opposing linesman.

Bruton was swapped for Brad Potter in a penultimate change of personnel from Butcher’s well-staffed subs bench that afternoon, before a spirited run from Clueit down the near wing led to a cross which saw Loveridge being positioned a little too far in front of the near post as he fired the ball over the touchline.

The 80th minute saw Clueit see yellow for a late challenge before Burghill couldn’t capitalize on a missed clearance from Matti Holder, instead putting the ball over the woodwork as Wickham was exchanged for Watts in a final home substitution.

The Rangers keeper seized the ball in the air from Watts and Walker in the box, and after the Rangers goaltender went on to deny a 25-yard cross-shot from Palmer-Young, a good challenge from Clueit forced the ball over the touchline to see a further corner ball from Walker being nodded well over the frame by Loveridge.

The 90th minute saw the same Ledbury striker weather a ball to the stomach as Sanha turned a blind eye to penalty calls when Watts fell in the box with a visiting defender, and, after the more rural-based outfit received a final booking for dissent going into stoppage time, one last corner ball from Walker saw Clueit commit an unlucky handball offence.

A concluding free kick from Matti Holder was over-struck to travel wide of the far post in what essentially summed up the reserves’ game that afternoon as Butcher remained optimistic despite the points being there for the taking:

“It was a very frustrating game indeed, perhaps more so that we dominated our opposition from start to finish. The only thing we did wrong was not score.”

“A point is a point, but it was definitely two points dropped. We’ve now had two draws on the bounce from games which should have been two wins, but the lads are working well and giving it their all.”

“Hopefully we can put things right in the next game.”

Butcher’s squad, still occupying the lower portion of the table with Burghill, will have to pause their continued hunt for a first full three league points of the season for the time-being as they take on Hinton Reserves at Broomy Hill in the opening round of this season’s Junior Cup this coming Saturday, before their first league encounter of October sees them host Hereford Lads Club Reserves the following weekend (both games KO 2:30pm).

The Ledbury second string will be hoping for an improvement on the 7-2 defeat the last time they played their Lads Club counterparts at the Herefordshire FA County Ground just three weeks ago, when Jack Harding hit a quartet of goal for the hosts as team-mate Jay Oliver scored a brace with Kieron Baldwin also on target, as the visitors’ two consolatory goals came courtesy of Alistair Holder and Loveridge.