Ledbury Town 7, Hereford FC Community Under 18s 1
Greater experience and superior physicality won the day for Ledbury Town in their penultimate pre-season friendly before their new Herefordshire Football League Premier Division 2022/23 campaign begins in a fortnight’s time, overcoming Hereford FC Community Under 18s with a resounding 7-1 victory in warm conditions on a rock-solid pitch at New Street.
Ian Merrick’s side went 5-0 up before the interval as man of the match Tom Boyle achieved a third pre-season hat-trick and a further second period goal to bring his tally to twelve even before the new season has begun, while Josh Burns successfully converted both of his penalties.
New signing this season Jordan Thomson also scored his second goal for the black and white shirts after finding his first during the second half of Ledbury’s opening pre-season encounter at home against Monmouth Town Reserves four weeks ago.
Boyle’s opener came barely moments after referee for the day Nick Fish had blown the starting whistle as Ben Febery did well to nod clear an early Hereford corner ball, before Town’s quadruple-scorer that afternoon seized the opportunity to slip the ball in past the young Hereford goalkeeper back upfield to quickly double the hosts’ lead.
A great tenth minute tackle from James Kenny just outside the box saw Thomson take his chance in front of the Under 18s keeper, putting the ball squarely home to see Ledbury hit three before thirteen minutes were up.
An initial strike from Burns saw the ball fly narrowly across the front of goal, before Dale Taylor and Dwayne Tyndale kept the teenage visitors at bay with some solid defensive work back downfield.
Thomson ended up being brought down with an opposing defender in the process of attempting to lob the Hereford goaltender back up the far end, but, after Fish called the first drinks break of the afternoon in the mid-twenties temperatures, it didn’t take long for Boyle to complete his treble.
A potential first goal for Burns was ruled out on the grounds of an offside flag being shown by a young Under 18s player running the far sideline, before a terrific cross from Boyle on the far wing found Burns in the box, whose next effort ended up being saved by the keeper.
Town captain Tom Trigg did well to keep the visitors out along the near side of the box, before Burns’ first penalty was scored three minutes before the interval when the keen home forward was brought down in the box upfield.
With the first league game of the season being only two weeks away, Merrick took the opportunity to give more of his squad some valuable time on the field as Pete Jeynes, Chris Wickham, Alistair Holder and Lewis Williams took over from Tyndale, Trigg, newcomer from Newent this season Cosmin Micula and Burns, with a plucky Boyle trying his luck as soon as the second half whistle started as an effort struck right from the centre-spot was only just palmed clear by the opposing goaltender at the far post.
The corner ball which resulted from this bold move was only just kept off the line as Boyle again took a gamble with a strike from over the halfway line out on the far wing, attempting to catch the young Hereford keeper off-guard and lob him although with the ball going on to sail over the crossbar.
The next ten minutes were characterized by Ledbury being rather too quiet, complacent and laid-back, very rarely managing to get the ball out of their own half as the Under 18s created problems for themselves in trying to attack as Town goaltender and third team manager Nick Blakeway, taking over the gloves from new regular keeper Alex Goode, warned his side that they needed to inject some urgency back into their game as he was forced to make a superb diving save to stop a free kick which made it past the dual wall of Thomson and replacement skipper Wickham.
A spot of tension occurred between Thomson and a visiting defender on the touchline after the debuting home player this season took some time to hand the ball over for a goal kick, before another good cross from Boyle on the far sideline saw Williams race in at the near post to see the ball collected by the keeper, even if an offside flag was shown regardless by another opposing player on linesman duties.
A 62ndminute free kick was exquisitely struck by Boyle past the four-man Hereford wall and into the back of the net to see the Under 18s literally hit for six, and, after the Edgar Street-based outfit chose to make a substitution of their own, Fish disallowed what would have been a first goal for them when contact was made with Blakeway in the process of the stand-in home keeper dropping an aerial ball before the visiting striker in front of him slotted the ball into the net.
A second break for fluids was ordered by the official as Tyndale and Micula returned to the fray in exchange for Thomson and Febery, with the former substitute player wasting no time in racing off down the near wing to put a cross into the box which was dealt with by two defenders before Williams could reach the ball.
A further member of the opposing back-line deflected the ensuing corner from Micula with a solid static header in front of the goalmouth, as a close range 70thminute strike from Burns was met with a terrific diving save from the Hereford goaltender as the pace of the game began to pick up following what had been up to this point a fairly lacklustre second period.
Williams seized a ball which had been deflected out to him to produce a powerful 25-yard thunderbolt which was still denied by a determined visiting keeper, with Burns’ follow-up corner being put on top of the netting as the Under 18s found a deserved sole consolation goal for their efforts fifteen minutes from time in managing to slip the ball past Blakeway upfield.
Trigg came back on for Taylor in a final Ledbury change of personnel, with perhaps only the friendly nature of the encounter saving the visiting goaltender from being sent off there and then by Fish when he slapped an incoming Burns down to the ground in the box.
Burns gained swift revenge in coolly putting away the penalty, and after Williams couldn’t quite reach a further cross from Boyle going into the final five minutes, the young opposition struck the ball under the leg of Trigg in the box as only the quick reactions of Blakeway prevented the Hereford youth side from adding a second goal to their scoresheet, diving at just the right spot to palm the ball clear with his fingertips.
Burns missed one final chance to pick up a pre-season treble as Town were left to celebrate their biggest goal tally since the 11-2 demolition of Shobdon at their bitterly cold aerodrome venue in the quarter-finals of the Herefordshire FA Charity Bowl cup competition towards the end of November last season, even if the Under 18s were no doubt able to use the game against more experienced opponents as a valuable learning curve for their new season in the Midland Junior Premier League.
The New Street first string on the other hand have had a cancellation in their scheduled final pre-season test at home this coming Saturday against FC Tredegar, so are currently seeking another side to provide them with further valuable time on the pitch before their new season in the newly-named Herefordshire Football League kicks off against old rivals Holme Lacy at New Street the following Saturday (KO 2:30pm).
Teams who are interested in giving Ledbury one final friendly are invited to contact club chairman Pete Boyle on 07415 114664, or get in touch via Town’s website, Facebook or Twitter pages.
