Ledbury Town 1-1 Bartestree
After the excitement of last weekend, which saw Ledbury Town book their place in another semi-final of the Herefordshire FA Charity Bowl cup competition following an epic 8-7 win on penalties away at Shobdon, this week was a rather more sedate affair for Dean Rutter and Nick Blakeway’s senior side, being forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against Bartestree in their latest Herefordshire FA County League Premier Division encounter at New Street.
Those hoping for a repeat of the fiery, heated temperament characteristic of clashes between these two long-term rivals over recent years were left somewhat disappointed on this occasion however, as a rather mundane opening half was played out at a pleasantly warm and sunny Ledbury ground.
Gavin Walton eventually managed to break the deadlock minutes after coming on as Town’s first substitute player on the 70thminute, only for Bartestree to equalize minutes later as their desperation to find the winner punished them during the closing minutes of play, picking up two yellow cards from referee Alan Robinson.
The visitors began with a fifth minute effort which travelled wide of the near post as the hosts forced a couple of early corners, although not gaining a clear chance at goal until ubiquitous man of the match Dwayne Tyndale rattled the woodwork with a twelfth minute effort from the side of the box.
The opposing outfit then blasted the ball well over the bar while under pressure from the home defence back downfield, before one of their attackers was unlucky to see his cross performed just before the touchline bounce off the top of the netting.
Tom Skittery tried a repeat of his 25-yard wonder goal against Wellington Rangers a fortnight earlier only to this time see his plucky effort fly over the bar, with the half-hour mark seeing Tyndale meet a corner from captain Curt Williams on the rise without quite managing to keep the ball down as it instead went over the woodwork.
A cross from Williams at the far corner provided the Bartestree keeper with an easy save as it was headed downwards by Alistair Holder, before the latter Ledbury regular held well against the visiting defence to enable Skittery to produce a further effort which was slotted just shy of the near post.
Tyndale couldn’t quite find the badly-needed first half goal from two successive 40thminute free kicks taken by Williams and Skittery, before some great defending from Tom Trigg forced the ball over the touchline for a goal kick.
A defensive header from Matt Rooke provided the opposition with one final corner ball before the interval which was safely caught by trusty Town goaltender Joshua Worrell.
The second period began with Robinson having to calm down a frustrated Bartestree outfit, before more controversy followed when Tyndale was contentiously flagged offside by the visiting linesman after slotting the ball in from the near post on the rebound from a Williams free kick which deflected off the opposite section of woodwork.
The hosts were vindicated however when Walton burst into the box and put away what was to be his side’s only goal of the afternoon, even if Ledbury celebrations were short-lived when a headed finish from the visitors soon levelled the score again for the rest of the game.
The 75thminute saw the Town captain voice his frustration after his team-mates showed hesitancy in the box during the delivery of his latest corner ball, before the opposing side received their first of two bookings for sending Pete Jeynes tumbling across the near sideline.
Second home substitute player Asten Griffiths became Bartestree’s latest victim just three minutes later when he was felled in midfield, with the ensuing well-taken free kick from Jeynes just being missed by Tom Watkins sliding in across the box in an effort to produce a finish which could well have secured the three points for his side.
Final Ledbury substitute player Lewis Williams squandered a late chance to convert an aerial ball which found him in the box, with a physical challenge from Jeynes on the touchline and an offside flag shown by Holder doing nothing to calm visiting tempers with moments remaining to find the winner as one final last-ditch free kick from Curt Williams was nodded clear by the black and white shirts.
Rutter and Blakeway’s men pay another visit to Shobdon Airfield this coming weekend for a league rematch against the leaders of their half of the table, KO 2:30pm.
Ledbury Town Reserves also scored a 3-1 victory away at Hinton Reserves this weekend in Division One of the Herefordshire League, with visiting man of the match Nathan Ince finding a brace and Jake Bramley scoring the third as David Butcher’s young squad host Ross Juniors HCL at New Street this coming Saturday (KO 2:30pm).
QUICK MATCH FACTS
LEDBURY TOWN STARTING LINE-UP:
1 – Joshua Worrell
2 – Pete Jeynes
3 – Tom Watkins
4 – Matt Rooke
5 – Alistair Holder
6 – Tom Trigg
7 – Charlie Jones
8 – Curt Williams (captain)
9 – Kieran Meek
10 – Dwayne Tyndale
11 – Tom Skittery
SUBS – Gavin Walton (on for Kieran Meek at 65 min), Asten Griffiths (on for Alistair Holder at 70 min), Lewis Williams (on for Tom Skittery at 75 min)
GOALSCORERS – Gavin Walton (70 min)
STAR PLAYER – Dwayne Tyndale
REFEREE – Alan Robinson
LEDBURY TOWN RESERVES STARTING LINE-UP:
1 – Zak Bonfield
2 – Jai Smallwood (captain)
3 – Alex Berry
4 – Matti Holder
5 – James Kenny
6 – George Hackman
7 – Clayton Hodges
8 – George Walker
9 – Charlie Cresswell
10 – Kieran Loveridge
11 – Nathan Ince
SUBS – Nick Bolton, Ethan French, Jake Bramley, Will Brandreth
GOALSCORERS – Nathan Ince x 2 (10 min, 40 min), Jake Bramley (75 min)
STAR PLAYER – Nathan Ince
REFEREE – Mark Robinson
CREDIT — Chris Ponter (Ledbury Town Football Club)
