Ledbury Town Football Club

Match report

Wellington Colts and Ledbury Town Swifts prepare for their second meeting in Division Two of the Herefordshire FA County League over on the secondary pitch at Wellington’s ground (📸: Leo Blakeway)

Ledbury Town Swifts were cruelly denied a well-earned draw against one of the better sides of Division Two of the Herefordshire FA County League this week, suffering a 3-2 defeat away against current fourth place holders Wellington Colts during a dramatic afternoon of football which saw the Swifts’ Dan Powell having to leave the field by ambulance after suffering a serious injury just five minutes into the proceedings, as it was only a Taylor Barnfield penalty scored at the eleventh hour which handed the Wellington third string the win.

A fortnight’s break from footballing action had given the Swifts a good chance to recuperate following their fourth win of the season at a well-attended New Street against lowly Dore Valley, when first-half goals from Kai Davis and Samuel Palmer-Young were enough to overcome the sole goal scored during the latter period by visiting striker Matthew Hancock after one of his team-mates succumbed to a serious ankle injury to see former Ledbury first team joint-manager and veteran defender Pat Locke kindly don an orange shirt to allow the game to continue after the 25th minute.

Indeed, this latest close result is testament to just how far the new Ledbury third string have come during only their first season in the Herefordshire League, having previously been beaten 5-1 by Wellington during only the third game of the season towards the end of September at the Ledbury Rugby Football Club Ross Road ground as the Swifts’ only goal of the day was scored by substitute player Dan Fish.

As was the case the last time the two sides met, the Colts had already gone two goals up by half-time, although this time through a Michael Olive brace as Powell was only taken to hospital on the run-up to the interval after incurring a suspected dislocated knee cap, which was later confirmed to be a full sever of the patella tendon.

Buoyed on by the urgency created by the two-goal deficit and the untimely exit of one of their key experienced players, the second period saw far more of a fight from the valiant visitors, which was suly rewarded through Clayton Hodges striking the ball into the bottom corner of the net from twenty yards out.

As the hosts appeared to run out of steam going into the latter stages of the game, a terrific 80th minute free kick from Ledbury man of the match Joel Skyers took a slight deflection into the top corner of the target to put a stricken Swifts outfit in with a chance of gaining at least a point for their efforts, only for Barnfield’s spot kick to deny the draw in the cruellest possible fashion.

Olive’s opener came from a long punt over the top which was returned to result in a simple finish, with Swifts caretaker manager Nick Blakeway managing to block a later effort only for the home brace-scorer that day to tap the rebound in and complete his double.

A late Colts free kick was struck over the sizeable five-man Ledbury wall to come off the gloves of Blakeway, as a follow-up effort on the rebound was struck to deflect off a Swifts defender to safety, before Sam Booth went to clear the ball during the closing minute of the game, only for the leather to come off his hand as referee for the affair Simon Gibson pointed to the penalty spot to result in Barnfield sending Blakeway the wrong way.

The temporary Ledbury third string boss was crushed by the result, but at the same time was extremely proud of his team’s noble effort on the day:

“It was a very spirited second-half performance, with the lads digging in deep and capitalizing on a home side who were tiring noticeably over the last 25 minutes.”

“The penalty was a cruel hammer blow, and I feel that a point would have been more than deserved for our efforts.”

“Standout performances were from man of the match Joel, with Khayd running him very close after a very strong game at the back as Clayton and Jasper Wilce also had great afternoons on the field.”

“It is looking likely that Dan will be very sadly hanging up his boots after this weekend. He has already had the operation to fuse his patella tendon back together, but it will still be a long road back for him.”

“I, and no doubt all at Ledbury Town Football Club, are keen to wish Dan as speedy a recovery as is possible, and we would like to thank him for his many years of dedication on the pitch for our club.”

A surprise 4-1 victory for Dore Valley over current league seventh place holders Belmont Rangers at the Seven Site the same day, with goals from booked forward Reece Leask, Aden Morgan, Jonathan Price and Alexander Turnbull-Simpson outnumbering the sole consolation goal scored by visiting player Zoltan-Elek Gidofalvi, drops the Swifts a place to ninth in the table, remaining level with Dore on points although with a six-goal disadvantage as the Ledbury third string have two further league games left to play, hosting Credenhill at New Street this coming weekend before visiting the Bridge Street Sports Centre a fortnight later for a second and final game of the season against mid-table Leominster Town (both games KO 2:30pm).

A 1-1 draw occurred against the current league basement boys at Roman Park towards the end of November when Powell, coming on as a substitute player for the Swifts, found the sole goal for the visitors as Mike Arlott was named man of the match for the Ledbury third string for a solid defensive display.

The Swifts recorded a memorable second victory of the season against Leominster at the Ross Road ground a week before the Credenhill draw in the form of a 3-2 win, with Arlott scoring the first goal for the hosts through a bullet-header in the box to finish a well-taken free kick from Nat Dunk, as sixteen-year-old Jake Clueit went on to score his first goal at senior-level football with the help of team-mates Jude Locker and Palmer-Young upfront.

Veteran player Jamie Roberts scored his first goal for Ledbury Town Football Club in over twenty years to seal the win through a superb through-ball produced by Swifts man of the match Callum Blackmore-Davey, with Ryan Botwood and Daniel Ramshaw-Evans picking up the goals for Leominster.