Ledbury Town Football Club

Match report

Ledbury Town thumped league newcomers Welland 8-0 on Tuesday evening under the floodlights at New Street. 

In what was the biggest Ledbury league win in nearly four years since their 11-2 home demolition of Pegasus Reserves back in November 2017 – and the biggest since their 9-1 thrashing of Walsall-based Red Star Alma at New Street in Division Two of the West Midlands Regional League way back in February 2013 if the Pegasus fixture is to be discounted due to them pulling out of the Herefordshire League later that year – Nathan Ince and prolific returning strikers Tom Boyle and Ben Miller all struck during a first period which really should have seen Welland bag at least two or three goals if not for several missed opportunities.

The visitors’ failure to get on the scoresheet before the interval proved disastrous going into the latter half of play as a Town side ravenous for more goals ran rampant playing downfield, as the Worcestershire-based outfit were simply unable to keep up with the sheer speed and pace of the hosts’ awesome attacking force.

Boyle completed his brace to add to the hat-trick scored against Ludlow seven days previously, with Ince also finding a double despite being booked for an earlier ill-advised retaliatory challenge, as Josh Burns as well as substitute players Curt Williams and Charlie Docherty added to a phenomenal tally for Ian Merrick’s side on the night.

The black and white shirts went on the offensive from very early on as Boyle just missed a good cross from Miller into the box up at the far end, before Ince’s first goal came on the sixth minute following a prolonged scramble in the box from both sides to meet a free kick from Miller.

A late challenge committed against Ince a few yards outside the Ledbury box back downfield saw the keen reserves-turned-first team Town striker respond by blasting the ball into the side netting, before seeing a second strike saved by the opposing keeper following a pacy run upfield. 

A moment of drama for Merrick’s men occurred on the 20^thminute when some sloppy defending led to Tom Trigg volleying the ball a little too close for comfort past the near post of his team’s goal, before nervy times for the hosts continued when the corner ball resulting from the near-own goal rolled across the bar.

Tensions amongst Ledbury players and supporters alike were finally relieved when an expertly-timed tackle from Dwayne Tyndale averted the danger in front of the goalmouth following the ball’s near gravity-defying antics across the woodwork, before the Welland keeper made a prudent move back upfield in coming off his line to deny Burns a chance at the target following a superb run from the young Town marksman.

Boyle took full advantage of a one-touch opportunity on the 27^thminute to fire the ball home beautifully from thirty yards out, with the half-hour mark seeing Febery nod a corner ball from the visitors more comfortably wide of the woodwork as the second set-piece from the team in yellow and blue was definitively blasted upwards over the touchline by new home signing this season Dale Taylor.

A third consecutive corner opportunity for the Worcestershire side was knocked shy of the target by one of their strikers under pressure from Tyndale, doing just as commendable a job in defence that evening as opposed to his more usual position upfront over recent seasons, before it was Taylor to the rescue once again on the 36^thminute when he cleared the ball away over the touchline for a further corner after Ledbury reserves keeper Zak Bonfield left his line and couldn’t quite get a hand to the ball.

Town’s opponents that night were left to rue four squandered corner balls in the space of six minutes when an assist from Boyle allowed Miller to slot the ball home back upfield for the hosts’ third, even if Welland kept pushing to close their deficit before the interval, firing well over in desperation from 25 yards out before a much closer effort from the far wing curled narrowly around the top corner of the woodwork with gasps being heard all around the ground.

Miller and Ince had chances to make it four before referee for the evening Christopher Bounds blew the half-time whistle, with the former Westfields striker racing across field to fire the ball inches wide of the far post in opportunistic manner upfield, as Ince displayed more of his trademark speed before striking the ball off the bar.

Ledbury didn’t let up going into the second period as a free kick from Miller had to be nodded away from Febery by the defender in front of him, with a Tyndale header then providing the visiting keeper with a relatively easy save.

The Welland goaltender owed far more to lady luck however when another plucky effort from a goal-hungry Miller, sensing the opposing keeper being well off his line, struck the ball to travel narrowly wide of the near post, before Boyle was felled by the visitors in midfield.

Miller and Ince retaliated through firing the ball just shy of the target and hitting the side netting respectively, before Boyle raced down to see an unsuccessful challenge against him nevertheless being enough to force a corner ball, taken by Town man of the match that night Scott Roberts to meet the head of Trigg as the ball clipped the bar.

Miller evaded a mis-timed lunging challenge towards the near sideline to deliver a cross which was deflected away from Boyle by a defender, before events turned rather more heated when Ince was brought down towards the touchline in a challenge which Bounds saw no issue with, even if it was enough to fire up the feisty home attacker to the degree that he launched into his assailant with a two-footed challenge towards the corner flag, leaving Bounds with no option but to show yellow.

The fiery reserves-turned-first team target man got the last laugh however on the 60^thminute when a Welland midfielder lost his footing, allowing the speedy striker to put away his double from a great Miller cross, with Burns going on to take full advantage of a brief moment of confusion involving the visitors protesting for handball by again firing the ball narrowly wide of a besieged opposing goal.

Boyle’s brace occurred on the 65^thminute as Welland quite literally couldn’t keep up with the pace, and, following a late challenge committed against Tyndale as the visitors’ despondency at being 5-0 down with still over twenty minutes left to play translated into sloppiness, things went from bad to even worse for them when a great assist from Ince allowed Burns to finally find the target.

A second and final booking of the affair, this time incurred by Welland in-between two double Ledbury substitutions as Ince and Burns left the field at a job well done for Docherty and Sam Branch to make an appearance, with Miller and Febery then coming off for Williams and George Walker, was followed by Bonfield leaping to claim a ball at the far post as Tyndale was replaced with Chris Wickham in a final Town change of personnel.

The visitors were forced to make an unplanned substitution of their own after one of their midfielders suffered a nose bleed on the 83^rdminute, before Walker gained a couple of chances to get himself on the scoresheet during three consecutive corner ball opportunities.

Merrick’s squad remained in no mood to let their goal tally stand at six despite only five minutes left on the clock, with a potential second consecutive hat-trick for Boyle being disallowed on the grounds of the opposing linesman raising the offside flag after the prolific striker received the ball from Wickham following a superb run from the final home substitute player that evening down the far wing, before both Williams and Docherty went on to find the net before the game’s conclusion.

A truly memorable night of football for Merrick’s high-flying side, with no fewer than thirteen Ledbury goals and eighteen goals in total being scored at New Street in just two games, will now see Town hoping to build on their stellar start to the season with a visit to Broomy Hill this coming Saturday to face Hinton (KO 2:30pm).