Ledbury Town Football Club

Match report

Ledbury Town Swifts take on Leominster Town at New Street in Division Two of the Herefordshire FA County League (📸: James Crews)

Ledbury Town Swifts secured a second victory on the bounce in Division Two of the Herefordshire League at New Street this week, after a 3-0 victory away against Tenbury United Colts at Palmers Meadow the previous weekend bought Richard Thick and Luke Ledbury’s new young side their long-awaited inaugural league win of the season.

This latest victory was a 3-2 win against Leominster Town to send them to tenth place in the league after languishing in the bottom spot since the start of the season, as Mike Arlott scored the first goal for the Swifts through a bullet header in the box from a well-taken free kick from Nat Dunk.

Jake Clueit then scored his first goal in senior level football, resulting from some great hold-up play from fellow sixteen-year-old team-mate Jude Locker as he released Samuel Palmer-Young out wide, who embarked on a terrific run before pulling the ball back to the edge of the area where Clueit’s supporting run saw him fire the ball home from the edge of the box.

With the hosts leading 2-1 at half-time, returning veteran player Jamie Roberts scored his first goal for Ledbury Town Football Club in over twenty years to seal the win through some great work in winning the ball on the half-way line, before being released via a perfect through-ball from home man of the match Callum Blackmore-Davey.

It was then merely a matter of Roberts running through on goal to coolly slot the ball away as a late second goal from the visitors scored five minutes from time saw Thick and Ledbury’s team nevertheless hold on and see the game out for a well-deserved win.

Thick was again over the moon with his side’s performance, commenting: “A handful of young players stood out, in particular Sam Booth, Jasper Wilce, Locker and of course Clueit.”

“These guys are growing week by week, and we were fantastic once again. Both goals conceded by us were silly mistakes which again need to be cut out, being purely lapses in concentration.”

“Luke and myself are absolutely delighted however with the dedication and hard work these boys are showing. We go into next week’s game having started to score goals as a team with different goalscorers, and it’s brilliant that everyone is starting to show confidence in front of goal and starting to back themselves when they get the opportunity.”

“Seeing the great team spirit starting to form and the feeling of togetherness is crucial, and right now this is running through the whole club thanks to all the hard work which Chairman Pete Boyle and Vice Chairman Rob Powell are putting in behind the scenes.”

“The great thing to see is, even after only a couple of wins, I’ve received messages from younger players and parents expressing an interest in joining our team when they are old enough, so it’s great to see that there is the beginning of a conveyor belt for younger footballers wanting to make the move to senior level.”

“The current crop are starting to inspire the next potential groups, and this is exactly what we want to be aiming for.”