Ledbury Town Football Club

Match report

The Welland keeper is about to save a 57th minute penalty from Ryan Pugh before the new Ledbury signing this season hammered home the rebound to put his side ahead for the first time that evening (📸: Chris Ponter)

Ledbury Town maintained their unbeaten run at the top of the Herefordshire Football League Premier Division with a 4-1 victory over Welland in a Tuesday evening encounter at New Street this week, even if the win was far from assured at the end of the first period as a surprisingly poor opening 45 minutes from Ian Merrick’s squad saw visiting striker James Lush score a penalty to put the black and white shirts on a back-footing going into the break for the first time this season.

In what was already shaping up to be an intriguing clash quite some time before referee for the evening Stuart Buchanan had blown the starting whistle, after Town thumped the Worcestershire-based outfit 8-0 in only the second league game of last season before the opposition returned the favour by dealing out a shock 5-3 defeat at the Upton Hill Community Centre in mid-March, Merrick’s squad delivered an uncharacteristically lacklustre performance to begin with under the floodlights.

With Lush’s penalty being the final straw, the disappointed home manager made no fewer than three changes to his line-up over the interval as the introduction of Zac Blood, Josh Burns and Matt Tristram changed the complexion of the game entirely.

A far more spirited second-half performance saw the first of these key replacement Ledbury players nod home a free kick from captain Joel Skyers, before the strongest moment of controversy seen at Town’s historic ground in quite some time, where a goal went unawarded despite the ball appearing to cross the line from a corner, saw the hosts gain quick retribution when new signing this season Ryan Pugh hammered home the rebound from a penalty of his own.

Ledbury cemented their stellar comeback just two minutes later when man of the match Burns finished a rebound off the Welland goalkeeper from an earlier Boyle effort, before Skyers got himself on the scoresheet through finishing a 63rd minute cross from Burns.

A terrible start for Town, with the ball only being kept from sneaking over the line through a goalmouth scramble, saw two early consecutive corner balls from the visitors culminate in the second set-piece being punched away by new home keeper this season Alex Goode, before Skyers fired an open effort wide of the far post upfield.

A more direct effort from other new Ledbury signing from Newent this season Cosmin Micula was centrally saved by the opposing goaltender, with an initial effort from Boyle on the tenth minute also being volleyed into the hands of the Welland keeper.

A superb run from Town’s top target man, covering a good number of yards across midfield and up towards the far end, was successful in forcing a first corner for the hosts, before the blue and yellow shirts were flagged offside by assistant referee Ian Jervis, officiating at a Ledbury game for the second time in four days after refereeing the memorable first-round Charity Bowl game against Hereford Pegasus Reserves at Old School Lane the Friday evening beforehand, which only concluded in a win for Town after the taking of penalties.

A crucial block from Tom Trigg right in front of goal saw an aerial cross from Boyle being caught by the visiting goaltender, before nervy times continued for the New Street outfit as Goode only just managed to play the ball away from a lurking defender following an unexpected risky back-header from Trigg.

The staunch home defender redeemed himself through bravely leaping out with a defensive header to keep the ball away from an incoming attacker, with Ledbury’s scrappy, rushed and rash play continuing to lead them into all sorts of problems as Skyers’ free kick over the four-man wall provided the opposing keeper with a relatively easy save.

Jervis refused to raise the flag in Welland’s favour when one of their forwards lunged in against Pete Jeynes just inside the near edge of the box to hit the deck, before an impressive acrobatic save from their goaltender denied Pugh of getting his side off the mark.

The first real moment of controversy occurred at 35 minutes in when Buchanan awarded the visitors their first of two penalties that night after judging Chris Wickham to have committed a foul inches inside of the box, despite Town fans making their opinions very vocal in believing the offence was committed outside of the area.

Goode nevertheless gained full justice for his side in saving the highly-contentious spot kick, before hearts entered the mouths of home supporters once more when a free kick from the opposition on the far wing was left rolling by another Welland forward to clip the near post.

The closing five minutes of the first period saw Skyers make a solid challenge to slow a further attack from the visitors down the far wing, before an injury to the home skipper near his own dugout saw him quickly return to his feet as a further corner ball from his opponents was deflected off the swarm of players in the Ledbury box.

Welland were given a second penalty opportunity when Pat Morgan brought one of their attackers down on the far side of the box in an altogether more convincing foul, with the spot kick being successfully converted by Lush as a cross-shot from Micula struck from a challenging angle back upfield caught the top of the net just beyond the woodwork.

The first period ended with a visiting defender needing treatment upfield on the far wing, as Town gingerly left the field with tails firmly in-between legs immediately after the half-time whistle was blown, knowing that big changes and improvements would have to happen if a first defeat of the season was to be averted.

Sure enough, a visibly-concerned and focused Merrick wasted no time in making the major shake-up needed as Wickham, newcomer Jordan Thomson and Morgan were all benched as the opposition brought Omar Elmougy off for Samuel Naulls, with the second period beginning with a free kick from Blood which was struck into the box to be deflected out by the Welland back-line.

An opening corner ball from the hosts was only just cleared off the line as Ledbury began to show much more promise even after only five minutes into the latter half of play, with visiting defender Patrick Lane receiving the first yellow card of the game from Buchanan for a late challenge committed on the far wing.

The foul turned out to be pivotal in determining how the affair would unfold as the resulting free kick was nodded home by Blood to draw the his side back level within ten minutes of the restart, before the big 50th minute controversy occurred when Skyers and Micula charged towards Jervis in disgust when the official neglected to flag what appeared to be a ball making it over the line from a Town corner.

The dismay of home players, management and fans was short-lived however when Pugh was knocked down in the box by Christopher Watling, earning the opposing defender his side’s second booking of the night as Pugh’s penalty was met with a great save from the Welland goaltender, only for the Ledbury newcomer to put away the deflection to a now-trademark gymnastic celebration.

With Mark Holbrow going on to receive the visitors’ third and final yellow card of the affair, the delight of the sizeable crowd of Town supporters spectators was furthered when Boyle crossed the ball to be palmed out by the keeper, only to see Burns charge in and finish the job to suddenly put his side 3-1 up, with all three goals being scored in the space of six minutes.

A strong, low shot from Skyers was denied through a terrific diving save from the opposing goaltender as Lane was swapped for Daniel Jackson in a second Welland change of personnel, before a great run from Burns down the far wing saw his cross come off an incoming Skyers and into the net to turn the game around completely with just over 25 minutes left on the clock.

Pugh then volleyed the ball not far from the near corner of the frame after receiving a good ball from the near wing before retiring at a job well done for Asten Griffiths to take over with Micula being moved to the right wing, as the visitors substituted Charlie Tippell for Ben Passberger.

Micula was unable to reach a cross from Burns on the far wing as the ball escaped over the touchline, before a free kick from the opposition was struck over the two-man Town wall and the bar to see Sean Smith leave the field for Benjamin Deakin in a final Welland change of personnel.

Boyle saw a one-on-one opportunity with the visiting keeper halted through an offside flag from Jervis, with a great run from the prolific home striker down the near sideline seeing his promising cross being dealt with by a defender as Buchanan sin-binned a member of the opposing outfit for dissent.

Burns halted his run on the ball after believing a foul had been committed against him through a pursuing defender pulling his shirt, even if Buchanan saw no cause to blow the whistle as one final chance for Ledbury’s star player that evening was foiled by the Welland defence.

Town nonetheless went on to celebrate one of their most startling comebacks of recent seasons, even if Merrick was very aware of how his team had failed to perform to their potential on the night in an insightful post-match interview:

“The first half this evening was very, very poor considering the high standards we have set so far this season. It was a very disappointing and substandard performance where we played in a sloppy manner and gave the ball away too easily. Welland deserved to be leading at half-time.”

“The second half was a little bit better with the players showing more character, but to be honest, I wasn’t pleased with the performance overall.”

“In terms of the substitutions we made, Zac Blood is one of those lads who will always put his foot on the ball, and in that sense he brought some much-needed control to the middle of the pitch. Josh Burns was just outstanding, with his energy getting him past other players very easily and his running in from behind being a threat from the very first minute of the second half.”

“Matt Tristram is our first choice of right-back and continues to be very solid, with a dynamic approach in the way he keeps pushing forwards and creates overloads in the wide areas, which really helps our game.”

“The three changes made all the difference, although at the end of the day we could have subbed all eleven players after such a sub-par first half performance. Digging in, showing character and getting the result is what matters, and these qualities just didn’t happen during the opening 45 minutes.”

“We’re top of the league, and our aim is to win and gain promotion. This is what the chairman, myself and the club’s committee want and are working hard to achieve, but leagues are not won in September.”

“It’s a start, but I don’t think we’ve really got out of second gear yet. When we click, as we do in training, we will end up beating a team seven, eight or nine-nil. At the moment, I think we are just doing enough, but winning is happening.”

“It’s nice to be gaining victories, keeping the momentum going and seeing Ledbury at the top of the league.”

Town are indeed hoping to make it seven league wins out of seven when they host lowly Hinton this coming Saturday (KO 2:30pm), before facing their greatest league challenge so far this season in entertaining closest rivals Kington Town the following Friday evening (KO 7:45pm).