Ledbury Town Football Club

Match report

Pete Jeynes, Scott Roberts, Nathan Ince and Ben Febery form a four-man defensive wall in an attempt to stop a 65th minute Clee Hill free kick, which ended up being saved by Ledbury keeper James Loader (📸: Chris Ponter)

Clee Hill United managed to avenge the 2-1 defeat dealt out to them during their first Herefordshire FA County League Premier Division meeting of the season against Ledbury Town in chilly Shropshire back in early November this week, defeating Ian Merrick’s men 4-3 at New Street, as not even a hat-trick from home man of the match Tom Boyle was enough to prevent the former league champions from clinching the win during an exciting Friday evening fixture full of drama and controversy.

In what was the first league game of the year for the Ledbury first string following a postponed original inaugural fixture of 2022 against Hinton the weekend beforehand owing to a waterlogged pitch at New Street, as well as Town’s first home fixture since the 3-2 league defeat of Hereford Pegasus Reserves a week after Merrick’s side last faced Clee Hill, the black and white shirts suffered a disastrous start underneath the floodlights as Ryan Clarke scored twice within three minutes for United, even if Boyle managed to pull one back before twenty minutes had elapsed.

The prolific home striker restored the stalemate nine minutes before the interval as the match remained anyone’s game going into the break under what was akin to a cup semi-final atmosphere at New Street with a crowd of around eighty spectators braving the cold, with the ground erupting on the 69th minute when Boyle completed his treble.

The joy of Ledbury supporters was short-lived however, when Craig Breakwell equalized barely two minutes later, before a yellow card for the red and black shirts and a consequential and highly controversial free kick from Town substitute player Curt Williams saw Steven Preece bag a crucial fourth goal for his side with ten minutes to go.

A highly unusual and somewhat bizarre 85th minute saw the referee that evening briefly pass out on the pitch in the frigid conditions, with the occurrence of Clee Hill’s later-disallowed fifth goal occurring during the time the official was on the floor only serving to further complicate an already-dramatic evening full of twists and turns.

There was danger for the hosts from very early on when an opening United corner ball was met with a mis-timed clearance from Tom Trigg, leaving a visiting attacker to fire the ball into the side netting, before an opening Ledbury free kick from Ben Febery on the near wing was cleanly caught by the opposing keeper at the far post back upfield.

A second Clee Hill free kick past the two-man Town wall of Nathan Ince and Scott Roberts was then nodded safely clear by Dwayne Tyndale, charging into the box with Trigg and several other United players rushing in behind him, before an opening tenth minute volley from Boyle landed just shy of the far post.

James Loader safely caught a 25-yard effort from the visitors in what was the first save required that night from the home goaltender, before Tyndale successfully covered and blocked a second corner ball from the opposition to allow his keeper to make the recovery.

Clarke fired home his opener on the quarter-hour mark, although not without controversy even at this early stage when the assistant referee running the near sideline appeared to put his flag down soon after raising it, as the referee nevertheless gave the goal.

The swift second goal from Clee Hill’s brace scorer that night was far more definitive however, with Loader being caught a good thirty yards off his line to leave Clarke with the simple task of running in behind the beleaguered Ledbury keeper and burying the ball, before Boyle managed to quickly halve his side’s goal deficit.

The Shropshire-based outfit nearly restored their dual-goal lead once again however moments later when a dangerous strike from the near side of the box rattled the near post, before another effort from Boyle after receiving a long cross from the near wing back upfield was saved by the United keeper at the far post.

Loader atoned for his earlier error of judgement by pulling off a magnificent diving save to palm a threatening effort from the visitors over the crossbar just as it was soaring into the bottom corner of the net, before continuing to redeem himself by making a further great save to deflect a shot just wide of the near post and going on to successfully deal with the corner set-piece.

Boyle received a further good ball upfront to enable him to perform a great finish and restore the stalemate, shortly before a further effort from the opposition clipped the far post as Trigg made a prudent move in clearing the ball safely off his line.

Physical pressure from Tyndale in the box going into the final five minutes of the first period of play was enough to cause a Clee Hill attacker to put the ball just wide of the woodwork, before the latter half began with Febery falling flat on the touchline after making a run past several defenders in the box, even if the referee was in no mood on this occasion to give anything Town’s way.

An opening second period United free kick again made its way over Ince and Roberts forming a further wall to be comfortably saved by Loader, before a corner ball from Roberts was palmed clear by a visiting goaltender leaping out above the swarm of players beneath him in the box.

The red and black shirts received a literal blow when one of their forwards had to be taken off injured over the near sideline, before a further contentious moment occurred when Ince’s potential goal after receiving a great ball from Febery on the far wing was disallowed through an offside flag being shown.

Merrick chose to make a double substitution on the 60th minute, as Williams and Pete Jeynes entered the fray in exchange for Tyndale and new signing this season Morgan Skidmore, before the opposing goalkeeper caught a second corner ball from Roberts in a near-identical manner to his previous save.

A four-man home wall consisting of Jeynes, Roberts, Ince and Febery was set up in front of a further Clee Hill free kick opportunity, as the spot kick again overcame the Ledbury barricade to be met with another save from Loader.

Town’s persistence finally paid off however when Boyle completed his hat-trick in style with a terrific finish to see his side take the lead for the first and only time that night, only for Breakwell to quickly pull his side level again.

Josh Burns couldn’t quite seize his chance to retake the lead when the ball came off his foot on a run towards the box with a defender in tow, being unable to stop the ball from escaping over the touchline before the hosts’ fortunes took a turn for the better again on the 78th minute when the referee this time saw things their way, issuing United with their only booking of the evening when Febery was felled outside the box.

The foul led to one of the defining moments of the evening when the ensuing free kick from Williams was struck past the quartet of visiting defenders to come off the palms of the keeper, with furious Ledbury fans making their feelings clear when the official brushed aside protests after the opposing goaltender brought down an incoming Boyle in his scramble to recover the deflected ball.

Twenty-year-old George Walker replaced Burns as the match entered its final ten minutes, and after Preece netted Clee Hill’s fourth and Town’s final substitute player struck a worthwhile effort over the bar from 25 yards out, the affair was thrown into confusion when the man in the middle himself came down in midfield, with United going on to score again while he was helped back to his feet.

A brief word with the linesman saw the referee give the goal at first, before going back on his decision and voiding the fifth mark on the scoresheet for the visitors on account of Loader being unaware of the current state of play during the process of the goal being scored.

The hosts couldn’t capitalize on being brought back into the game however, seeing a number of final corner balls and attacking opportunities go begging as the final whistle saw the former league title holders achieve redemption for the Febery brace which cost them the three points at the Knowle Sports Ground nearly three months previously.

Ledbury drop from second to fourth in the league after Pegasus Reserves scored a 1-0 win over fifth-placed Ludlow Town Colts at Old School Lane, with Hereford Lads Club Reserves achieving a 4-2 victory away at lowly Shobdon the following day, but with both of these city-based sides lying only a single point above Merrick’s men, the New Street first string will be putting everything into reinstating themselves in the runners-up spot behind runaway league favourites Hartpury University when they host lowly Ewyas Harold this coming weekend (KO 2:00pm).

Town defeated Ewyas Harold a fortnight after their previous victory over Clee Hill, when second half braces from Boyle and James Febery along with an additional goal from Chris Wickham secured a comfortable 5-1 win at Ewyas Harold’s ground.