Ledbury Town Football Club

Preview

Ledbury Town’s hotly-anticipated Herefordshire Football League Premier Division top-of-the-table rematch against Hereford Pegasus Reserves, after a truly stunning 77th minute free kick from Tom Boyle bought an extremely valuable 1-0 league win against their arch rivals at Old School Lane back in mid-October, was postponed in disappointing fashion this week due to a frozen pitch at New Street.

Ian Merrick’s high-flying squad, leading the table but only by a single point and a six-goal advantage over the Pegasus second string following a 4-1 loss in their first league defeat of the season away at current third place holders Ludlow Town Colts at the Ludlow Stadium on 7th January, and a 4-0 win for the Pegasus second string at home against league newcomers Coppertops FC a week later, will have to wait until a rescheduled fixture on Saturday 15th April to see if they can record a third victory of the season over their Hereford-based rivals.

Ledbury first took Pegasus on this season at Old School Lane in an eventful Friday evening encounter back in later September in the opening round of this season’s Herefordshire FA Charity Bowl competition, avenging the 3-1 defeat in the final played at the Herefordshire FA County Ground four months previously when a Harvey Evans opener and a Saul Thomas brace outnumbered the sole Town consolation goal scored by youngster George Walker.

The latest Charity Bowl clash between the two sides was taken to penalties when a brace from visiting man of the match Boyle and a further goal from Ben Febery equalled the home marks on the scoresheet from Corey Ellis, Harvey Evans and substitute player Charlie Jenkins, during a volatile encounter which saw Pegasus defender Marc Avery receive a double-booking and Boyle and team-mate Zac Blood also being shown yellow cards by referee Ian Jervis.

Town ran away during the shootout however, with Ryan Pugh, Blood and Febery all putting away their spot kicks as some stellar saves from visiting goalkeeper Alex Goode effectively sent his side through to the semi-finals of the contest against Clee Hill United at New Street on Saturday 4th March (KO 2:00pm), following a quarter-final home walkover in Ledbury’s favour when Ludlow failed to raise a side towards the end of November.

Clee overcame Westfields Development with a comfortable 4-0 quarter-final win at the Knowle Sports Ground on the same day as Ludlow’s forfeit, when a brace from Craig Breakwell and further goals from Josh Bowen and Liam Whitbread secured a place in the penultimate stage of the competition.

Town will themselves face Coppertops at New Street in their remaining January fixture this coming weekend (KO 2:00pm), having already having achieved a 5-0 victory over the newcomers at their University of Worcester St. John’s Campus venue during only the second league game of the season played in late August, when braces were scored by both man of the match Pugh and captain Joel Skyers as Febery found the additional goal.

Ledbury will begin February with a trip to The Kensal Ground for a first meeting of the season against mid-table Wellington Rangers on Saturday 4th (KO 2:30pm), before more than a fortnight’s break sees Merrick’s men face Hinton for a second time this season at Broomy Hill in a Tuesday evening encounter on 21st February (KO 7:45pm).

Town have already thumped the side occupying the second-from-bottom spot in the table with a 7-1 demolition at New Street at the start of October, when both Josh Burns and returning substitute player Patrick Morgan scored doubles, with Boyle and Febery also on target for the hosts as booked Hinton substitute striker Robert Gonsales found the only consolation goal for the visitors.

Ledbury will then travel to Palmers Meadow four days later for a first encounter of the season against lowly Tenbury United (KO 2:00pm).