Ledbury Town Football Club

Match report

Ledbury man of the match and sole goalscorer that day Ben Febery (second from left) is congratulated by Rares Micula to the right and Tom Boyle and Tom Trigg (wearing the number 5 shirt) to the left, with recent Town newcomer Dean Lee and Josh Burns being shown further to the left after Febery nodded home a chipped free kick from Ben Miller on the 67th minute (📸: Chris Ponter)

After a crucial third victory of the season over Hereford Pegasus Reserves at New Street repaired the damage done by an unexpected 2-1 defeat to Clee Hill United on Easter Monday, Ledbury Town took a major step towards this season’s Herefordshire Football League Premier Division title with a 1-0 away triumph over formidable league newcomers and closest rivals Sporting Club Inkberrow.

Buoyed on by an impressive crowd of nearly a hundred visiting supporters, many of whom had travelled on a specially-booked 52-seater coach for the occasion, Ian Merrick’s high-flying squad had all the pressure on them with Inkberrow having nabbed the top spot of the table by two points via a 4-0 win against Ludlow Town Colts at home earlier in the week.

As was the case when these two top-tier teams first faced each other in a hard-fought goalless Friday evening affair at New Street back in early December, a tense opening 45 minutes saw them once again evenly matched, even if Ledbury very much held their own against a physical and burly Worcestershire-based outfit as referee Joshua Marchant let a number of risky challenges slide.

The breakthrough came on the 67th minute when Town man of the match Ben Febery nodded home a simple yet extremely effective free kick from Ben Miller, with visiting goalkeeper Alex Goode and defender Tom Trigg both being instrumental in keeping the opposition at bay for the remainder of the ninety minutes as nerves of away fans were tested to breaking point over seven minutes of stoppage time.

A critical encounter at Inkberrow’s impressive Sands Lane ground, enjoying a spell of warm spring sunshine that afternoon began with an opening volley from the hosts being comfortably caught by Goode, before it didn’t take long for the first moment of controversy to occur at just six minutes in when Febery took a fall in midfield with nothing being given to the black and white shirts by Marchant.

Lewis Williams recovered the ball, racing it upfield as a defensive knock over the crossbar from a member of the opposing back-line gave recent newcomer Dean Lee a first Ledbury corner ball of the affair, before top Town goalscorer Tom Boyle did well to keep the ball in play against two defenders on the far touchline, delivering a cross which missed the heads of both Williams and the Inkberrow player leaping up against him in the box.

Boyle went on to lose the ball to a swarm of defenders on the edge of the box as a very-much-unlucky thirteenth minute of play for the hosts saw their free kick sail narrowly wide of the far post as Goode went to make an attempted diving save.

Josh Burns then fed the ball in to see it seized from Williams by an outrushing opposing keeper as the visiting attacker gave the Inkberrow goaltender a sporting hand up from the ground, before things became rather more heated going into the 20th minute as aggressive defensive challenges against both Lee and Febery saw the hosts continue to go unpunished.

Marchant eventually yielded to Ledbury protests in awarding a free kick when Burns was sent sprawling in midfield, with the set-piece being played by Rares Micula to Town captain Joel Skyers to his left only for an opposing defender to intercept the ball and give the visiting skipper a throw-in.

A second free kick for the Herefordshire-based side, given just four minutes after Febery hit the deck in almost exactly the same spot as his team-mate upfront, was then struck by Boyle to make it past the four-man Inkberrow wall before being easily collected by their keeper at the far post.

The hosts squandered a spot kick opportunity of their own back downfield in putting it past Skyers and Burns to land harmlessly wide of the near post, before a solid defensive header from Burns in the box saw the game’s first offside flag being raised by assistant referee Geoff Banham, deeming Lee to have committed an infringement even if the opposing goaltender caught the intended aerial cross to the new Ledbury signing.

There was fury from Town’s management, players and followers alike as a boisterous Inkberrow side continued to evade Marchant’s book despite further late challenges being committed against Burns and Skyers, as Goode chose to charge almost out towards the far corner flag to make a decisive clearance as Williams was unlucky to lose the ball over the far sideline.

Marchant finally bowed to pressure on the 38th minute in displaying the first yellow card of the encounter to the hosts to give Skyers a free kick, before hearts entered the mouths of visiting fans five minutes from the break when an opposing forward struck the ball just over the bar from close range while under pressure from Trigg.

Micula fired the ball rather higher over the woodwork from 25 yards out back upfield, before blood pressures of Ledbury spectators soared on the brink of the interval when a final Inkberrow spot kick was played to the right of the near post, being headed back into the box with Goode deflecting the follow-up strike, as only the heroic efforts of Trigg prevented the ball from entering the net on the rebound.

Superb challenges from Burns and Micula began the latter half of play as the latter Town midfielder struck an opening free kick of the second period past the near post in another missed opportunity to finally break the deadlock, before Tyler Weir managed to stop the ball with the sole of his foot in the box for his clearance to erroneously meet the boots of a home attacker.

Micula performed another great sliding tackle at the near corner of the box with Marchant seeing no cause to sanction him despite protests from the opposition, before Goode caught an aerial effort from the far wing in a comfortable manner to see Cosmin Micula, cousin of Rares pick up a first booking for the visitors through a late challenge on the opposite wing.

Trigg continued to boss the Ledbury back-line in making a solid challenge just outside the box and blasting the ball against the back of an Inkberrow forward in painful-sounding manner, before Febery decided to take matters into his own hands – or rather feet – when his defence failed to clear the ball, lunging in with a sliding covering clearance to send the ball safely away to the near touchline.

Williams retired for Miller as half an hour remained for their team to find that elusive goal, with Goode going on to seize another aerial ball as undue contact from a home attacker against Weir was again ignored by the referee.

The moment of joy occurred for Town’s patient crowd of followers when Miller’s chipped free kick met the diving header from Febery into the net to cries of euphoria, even if the opposition were quick to remind their visitors that things were far from over as Goode was forced to make two pivotal saves to retain his side’s newfound lead.

A somewhat bizarre moment occurred on the 73rd minute when Goode fell in agony into his own net as an Inkberrow corner ball was being prepared, with a home defender having apparently stamped on his foot on the line as Cosmin Micula was nevertheless on hand to head the set-piece clear.

Both teams made substitutions with fifteen minutes of regular time remaining as Nathan Ince came on for Burns, with a further corner ball from the opposition being easily cleared as Ince was swiftly shown his side’s second yellow card of the afternoon six minutes after entering the action.

Cosmin Micula required treatment from joint assistant coach Scott Roberts following an injury incurred from another physical Inkberrow challenge on the far wing, as an 83rd minute free kick from the hosts was built up to be knocked directly against the two-man Ledbury wall as the seconds ticked away for them to find a critical equalizer.

Marchant eventually stopped play to allow several Town players to recover from cramp, and, as Trigg continued to keep the opposition’s late last-ditch attack at bay with some further great clearances going into stoppage time, one last free kick opportunity for Inkberrow was struck through a huge seven-man wall of black and white shirts to be caught and grasped tightly on the ground in the safe hands of Goode.

Visiting followers, whose nerves couldn’t take much more demanded that Marchant check his watch as the game entered its 94th minute, with Cosmin Micula succumbing to his earlier injury for Pete Jeynes to make a late appearance, before the final whistle was finally sounded to tumultuous cheers from the Ledbury crowd as Merrick and his men applauded their many dedicated supporters in a victorious exit from the field.

Merrick had nothing but praise not only for his players, but also for the impressive turnout of his team’s followers on the day:

“It was always going to be a game of fine margins, with two quality teams battling hard against each other.”

“A real moment of quality won us the game with Ben Febery’s diving header, and the desire and team spirit shown by the lads since the defeat at Clee Hill has been immense.”

“We now have to ensure however that we finish off the job by winning our final three games.”

“I’d also like to say a massive thank you to our supporters. To have almost a hundred of our own fans there backing the team was just fantastic.”

“No other team at this level receives the level of support which we do, so again thank you to everyone who came along and backed the lads. We really do appreciate your support.”

Although a massive result, Town’s title campaign is by no means over. Their victory over Inkberrow places them only a single point back at the summit of the table, meaning that three points from each of their remaining three games could well be mandatory if they are to guarantee themselves the silverware with their closest rivals retaining an eight-goal advantage.

Ledbury next face lowly Worcester United for a second time this season at the Droitwich Spa Leisure Centre this coming Wednesday evening (KO 8:00pm), having little time to recover from this midweek encounter as they play their penultimate league of the season against mid-table Welland at the Upton Hill Community Centre this coming Saturday (KO 2:30pm).

Town then return home to New Street for a concluding rearranged league fixture against eleventh-placed Wellington Rangers the following weekend (KO also 2:30pm).

Merrick’s side have already beaten Worcester 2-1 at home during the third league game of the season in late August, when Boyle and Ryan Pugh scored first-half goals for Ledbury as substitute player Joshua Lloyd found the only goal for United with Jeynes being named man of the match for the hosts.

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, who was sadly put out of action with a season-ending injury in suffering a dislocated shoulder fifteen minutes into the second period of play.

Jordan Mann found the hosts’ only consolation goal in controversial circumstances eight minutes after Pugh found the net, as Trigg picked up the man of the match accolade for Town for a solid defensive display throughout the afternoon.