Ledbury Town Football Club

Match report

Ledbury players celebrate after Tom Boyle completes his brace and scores his side’s fifth goal through finishing a 70th minute cross from Nathan Ince on the far wing (: Chris Ponter)

Ledbury Town pulled off a stunning upset during the opening round of this season’s Herefordshire FA County Challenge Cup, dismantling defending title holders Hereford Lads Club with an emphatic 6-0 victory, during a remarkable ninety minutes which will live long in the memory.

All the superlatives in the book could not have done Ian Merrick’s triumphant squad justice on the night, putting in a near-perfect all-round team performance to thoroughly take apart a side competing two leagues above them in the Uhlsport Hellenic League Premier Division, as Nathan Ince stormed down the near wing barely a minute into the encounter against a seemingly complacent and napping Lads Club outfit to fire home an exquisite cross-shot to take the lead almost instantly.

Town maintained their all-out assault on the visitors’ goal to see Scott Roberts nod the ball home following a deflection off the four-man wall standing up to Tom Boyle’s 22^nd minute free kick, and although there were signs during the opening quarter-hour of the second period that the city-based side were starting to regroup, this was swiftly undone when Josh Burns and Boyle found the net within two minutes of each other.

The remaining twenty minutes belonged firmly to the hosts, not needing the advantage of playing downhill to continue the fairy tale as both of the aforementioned Ledbury target men went on to complete braces.

Ince followed his opening thunderbolt by nearly finding a second goal barely four minutes later when his long ball from the opposite wing bounced just shy of the near post, before it was only through the laws of physics seemingly being bent that Burns was denied slipping the ball in on the tenth minute through a combination of opposing keeper and captain Steve Bell and the woodwork somehow managing to prevent the ball from sneaking over the line.

A promising cross from Boyle on the quarter-hour mark was deflected by the defender standing in front of both the goal and Ben Febery, before Roberts’ bullet header was followed by Town captain Matt Rooke making a solid deflection.

It took until the 33^rdminute for Lads Club to truly threaten with an effort which flew fairly close across the front of goal, before Boyle was blocked by a defender before he had the opportunity to produce the shot back downfield.

Febery was brought down just outside the box as the young striker went on to knock the free kick well over the bar, before man of the match for Ledbury that night Lewis Skyers, who, partnered with his strong defence, could take much of the credit for keeping the visitors’ tally at nil that evening through producing many quality saves, punched away a spot kick struck past Burns, Roberts, Ben Miller and Boyle forming the Town wall.

A massive goal kick from Skyers, standing in for regular goaltender Joshua Worrell, then reached Boyle on the edge of the box as the prolific home striker knocked the ball on past Bell and only just wide of the far post, before a satisfied Ledbury outfit retired to the changing room over the interval in the knowledge that a major upset could be on the cards should they maintain their stunning momentum.

It became clear that the security of a third goal was needed going into the latter half of play as Skyers was soon called upon to make the save in what was an early clear goalscoring opportunity for the blue and white shirts, as Tom Trigg was required to make a decisive clearance in order to keep the opposition out.

A terrific header from Rooke dealt with an awkward cross from the far wing which could have otherwise caused problems for Merrick’s men, before Cameron Godsall picked up the first of two Lads Club bookings that evening from referee James Lewis for a heavy challenge against Febery a few yards outside the box.

A 55^th minute free kick from Dale Taylor landed in the hands of Bell as things started to become rather more heated, with the visitors making their protestations clear over a further foul given Town’s way towards the near sideline, as the Hereford-based squad then chose to make a double substitution as Godsall and Thomas Bendall left the field in exchange for Dean Lee and Glenn Segust.

A free kick was struck over the three-man home wall to bounce off the top netting as Pete Jeynes came on to replace Dwayne Tyndale in a first Ledbury substitution, with Trigg putting in some excellent defensive work to both header and deflect a further free kick from the opposition as Jeynes made the final clearance from the touchline.

Febery nodded a third consecutive Lads Club free kick over the woodwork as half an hour remained for the visitors to salvage their game, with Rooke performing another good block just outside the box as Trigg displayed a fantastic burst of speed in order to chase down an opposing striker for Jeynes to again make the deflection.

For a moment on the 63^rdminute, it looked as if Lads Club might have let themselves back in the game when Skyers dived for but couldn’t quite reach a ball travelling under the top corner of the frame, with cheers around the ground being just as loud as if Town had struck the net when the potential sole consolation goal for the visitors was disallowed on the grounds of an offside flag being shown by assistant referee James Cairns.

An expertly-timed challenge from Jeynes in the box was followed by a painful-sounding deflection off the thigh of a stubborn Taylor to send the ball over the touchline as the home defence continued to hold strong, before Ledbury more than addressed their need for a three-goal buffer when Burns and Boyle both found the net in quick succession.

A threatening 70^thminute strike from a galvanized Boyle was then saved, only for the goal-hungry striker to finish a cross from Ince to send Town’s total to an unprecedented five, with Taylor then managing to slide in and deflect the ball just shy of the target back downfield as the resulting corner ball was safely caught by Skyers above the swarm of players beneath him in the box.

The 75^thminute proved the most controversial of the game as Oliver Price picked up a yellow card for his struggling side, with Lewis even seeing fit to walk over and have words with an aggrieved away manager, before hot Hereford tempers continued to be evident when Burns was felled through a poor challenge.

A great save from Skyers saw Trigg again being on hand make the clearance, before the substitute home keeper went on to block an effort with his feet before pulling off what was undoubtedly the save of the game, showing cat-like reactions in leaping to palm the ball over the bar to triumphant shouts from the bumper crowd of increasingly excited Ledbury supporters.

The ensuing corner ball was put just wide of the far post as the blue and white shirts faced the unfeasibly tall order of finding five goals in ten minutes if the game was to be taken to extra time, made all the more impossible when a thirty-yard strike from Burns entered the net past a static Bell to see Town’s opponents quite literally hit for six.

Febery stopped a late sustained run from a Lads Club marksman as Ince and Roberts left the field at a job well done for Chris Wickham and Curt Williams to play the remaining couple of minutes, as some good late further defensive work from Febery saw Skyers perform one final impressive save to see Merrick’s stellar squad sail through to the quarter-finals, at home once more to Hereford Pegasus FC on a date still to be announced.