Ledbury Town Football Club

Match report

Newcomer Dean Lee (second from left) embraces Rares Micula with Josh Burns beneath him, Ben Febery, Tom Trigg and Lewis Williams behind and Matt Tristram, Dale Taylor and Joel Skyers to the right as a raucous team huddle celebrates Ledbury’s second goal of the afternoon scored by Lee from a terrific cross from man of the match Williams (📸: Chris Ponter)

After an unwelcome 2-1 defeat at a squally Knowle Sports Ground against sixth place holders Clee Hill United on Easter Monday reduced their lead at the top of the Herefordshire Football League Premier Division to a solitary point, Ledbury Town made much-needed amends this week with a vital 2-0 victory against third-placed Hereford Pegasus Reserves at New Street.

With Ledbury and the Pegasus second string having established quite the rivalry over recent seasons, with the Reserves having denied Town of the Herefordshire FA Charity Bowl last season through a 3-1 win at the Herefordshire FA County Ground before Ian Merrick’s squad repaid the favour by knocking the title holders out of the opening round of the same contest with a 3-1 win on penalties at Old School Lane in September, with a stunning free kick from Tom Boyle a month later buying a league win at the same venue, the big crowd at Ledbury’s historic ground reflected how important this fixture was.

Those hoping for a fiery clash under the warm spring sunshine during a hotly-anticipated fixture which had been rescheduled due to a frozen pitch at New Street back in mid-January, were to be somewhat disappointed however as a relatively innocuous opening half unfolded, albeit with a few controversial decisions culminating in a disallowed goal for the visitors.

Town man of the match Lewis Williams broke the deadlock eight minutes into the second period through a superb assist from team-mate upfront Josh Burns, before recent home newcomer Dean Lee doubled the lead a further eight minutes later this time with the assistance of Williams to achieve a treble over the Hereford-based outfit.

With Ben Febery taking kick-off as the hosts gained the advantage of playing downhill to begin with, Williams made the first significant move of the affair in sliding in to deflect an early cross-shot from an opposing forward on the near touchline upfield, before an early blow for the black and white shirts occurred when Febery came down with a nasty head injury.

The blow fortunately wasn’t match-ending however as Ledbury debutant that day Jaheim Clarke came on to briefly cover for his more established colleague as a dressing was applied, with the free kick taken by Town goalkeeper Alex Goode being followed by a further spot kick from Lee which made it over the pair of Pegasus players forming the dual wall in front of him to be met with a clearing header.

Rares Micula rattled the crossbar to gasps from the sizeable gathering of spectators, before a very-much-unlucky thirteenth minute of play for the hosts saw Josh Burns brought down in the box with no flag being raised by assistant referee Simon Gibson from the near sideline to see the penalty go ungiven.

A free kick from Febery taken a few yards outside the box was sent well over the crossbar as a second spot kick from Micula on the far wing rolled past players from both sides in the box to nearly make it into the net, before the Ledbury defence tentatively cleared a further free kick from the Reserves at 25 minutes in.

The game was then stopped temporarily as referee Dean Macdonald went over to the Town dugout requesting that extra protective layers be added to the vulnerable head of Febery, before a prime chance for the hosts to open their account occurred on the half-hour mark when Williams broke through, being sent down by a scrambling visiting keeper at the far post as appeals from the hosts were ignored by the official.

Macdonald again refused to sanction the city-based side when Burns was sent sprawling in front of his own dugout, before an excellent free kick from the same Ledbury attacker nearly went in if not for being deflected over the bar through a superb save from the opposing goaltender.

The resulting corner ball was struck by Lee to sail through an attempted double header from Pegasus captain Henry Hancocks and one of his fellow defenders, with Skyers leaping up next to them as a further Reserves player raced the ball back up the far wing, leaping to successfully evade a sliding challenge from Tom Watkins.

Burns battled hard to keep possession against a number of defenders towards the near touchline, delivering a cross-shot which saw the ball roll across the top netting although not without winning a further corner ball for his side, which was again struck by Lee to be met with a two-fisted clearance from the visiting keeper.

The big contentious moment of the first period occurred three minutes from the half-time whistle when the red and white shirts believed that the ball had crossed the line upfield, only for their hopes to be dashed when a brief discussion between Macdonald and second assistant official Ava Jordan concluded in the goal being disallowed.

Burns did much of the threatening upfront to begin the second period to culminate in an intended cross from Williams to his team-mate being intercepted by an opposing defender, before Tom Trigg repaid the favour back down the other end by sliding in to block a good ball from a Pegasus attacker charging down the far sideline.

There was jubilation at New Street when a cracking run from Burns saw his strong cross-shot being popped into the net by Williams lying in wait in the box to finally get their side off the mark, and, after Micula put in some solid work in midfield, Town fans erupted when a terrific cross from Williams was finished by Lee for a first goal scored for his new team.

Matt Tristram made a pivotal high clearance away from a Pegasus forward to his right who had just missed the connection with a 65th minute aerial ball, before a free kick for the Reserves awarded after Hancocks was barged down on the near wing by Lee was struck directly against Skyers as part of the two-man wall, with Macdonald waving aside some tenuous handball calls from the visitors.

Williams retired at a job well done for Clarke to make his proper debut, with a free kick from Skyers struck just after Trigg needed a moment to recover from cramp further downfield seeing Lee knock the ball well over the target from the near touchline.

An effort from Burns went much the same way under pressure from the opposing defence, before a more on-target shot from the goal-hungry home striker was grasped on the ground by the Pegasus goaltender at the far post.

Trigg performed a further solid header to deflect an incoming aerial ball as less than ten minutes remained for the Reserves to salvage at least something from the game, as Goode made a good call coming off his line to see Trigg leave him to make the save away from a lurking visiting forward.

Burns was swapped for Ince for the five minutes which remained as great pressure from Trigg and then Tristram in pursuing an opposing attacker over the far touchline won a goal kick for Goode, before the Pegasus keeper made a similar good judgement of his own in racing well off his line back upfield towards the far wing to boot the ball away from Clarke.

A final free kick for the Reserves, given following a physical challenge from Skyers on the near touchline, couldn’t provide them with a late consolation goal as Ince went on to take a tumble over a visiting counterpart along the edge of the box.

Pete Jeynes had to replace Clarke moments before the final whistle as the latest Ledbury player’s inaugural game sadly ended in injury, as Town nevertheless went on to celebrate a critical win in terms of keeping them on the road for the league title.

With formidable league newcomers Sporting Club Inkberrow overcoming Ludlow Town Colts with the same result at home on the same day however to stay one point behind the leaders, with Harry Coughlin and Jay Higgins-Pugsley finding the goals as Luke Hicks received a straight red card for Ludlow, the pivotal moment of the season is yet to come for Merrick’s men as they take on none other than the second-place holders at Sands Lane this coming weekend (KO 2:30pm).

A trio of late away games, all of which remain must-win affairs if Ledbury are to guarantee themselves the league silverware come the end of the season as Inkberrow and Pegasus both retain a critical game in hand, will continue with a visit to lowly Worcester United in a midweek fixture at the Hallow Playing Field on Wednesday 26th April (KO 6:30pm), before Town play seventh-placed Welland at the Upton Hill Community Centre on Saturday 29th April (KO 2:30pm).

A 52-seater coach will be departing New Street for the occasion, with anyone interested in travelling with the team for this decisive clash being invited to contact Town chairman Pete Boyle on 07415 114664 with their name and how many seats they would like at a cost of £5.00 each.

After their scheduled second meeting of the season against Wellington Rangers was postponed on the evening of Friday 31st March, when torrential showers throughout the day created a waterlogged pitch at New Street, Merrick’s side will end their season with a rescheduled fixture at home against the current ninth place holders on Saturday 6th May (KO 2:30pm).

A goalless draw occurred against Inkberrow under the floodlights at New Street in early December, during a tough affair all round which saw the visitors nearly find the net during the closing ten minutes if not for some heroic saves from Ledbury man of the match Goode, with Town already having beaten Worcester 2-1 at home during the third league game of the season in late August when substitute player Joshua Lloyd found the only goal for the visitors, with Jeynes being named man of the match for some strong defending throughout.

The first-half Ledbury goals came courtesy of Boyle and Ryan Pugh, as the latter player was sadly put out of action during the 3-1 win over Wellington Rangers in early February after suffering a dislocated shoulder fifteen minutes into the second period at The Kensal Ground.

Town also have a 4-1 victory over Welland in their records this season, even if the win towards the end of September looked far from certain as a surprisingly poor opening 45 minutes from the hosts at New Street saw visiting striker James Lush score the second of two penalties given to his side during the first period by referee Ian Jervis, only for Merrick’s men to launch a stellar second-half comeback with goals from Zac Blood, Skyers, man of the match Burns and Pugh through a rebound off a great save from the opposing keeper which deflected his own 57th minute spot kick.

Finally, Ledbury scored their first victory of 2023 against Wellington courtesy of a second-half brace from Febery which followed a 20th minute opener from Pugh, as Jordan Mann found Wellington’s only consolation goal eight minutes after Pugh found the net, with Trigg picking up the man of the match accolade for Town for a solid defensive display throughout the afternoon.