Ledbury Town breezed through to the Herefordshire FA Senior Cup final with this emphatic victory on Saturday but the score line was rather flattering for the winners.
Ross TOWN 1, LEDBURY TOWN 6
Ledbury left out Stu Smith, Lee Clueit, Phil Preedy, Towan Ravenscroft and Niel Gardiner, obviously manager Paul Wilband taking the following Tuesday's trip to Kington far more seriously than this game and at times it showed.
Ledbury struggled early on and had difficulty putting two passes together and with no left-footed player in the side looked totally disjointed.
The game was 20 minutes old when Welch's cross-cum-shot was spilled by keeper Newman and Nicky Stockley bundled the ball home from close range.
Ledbury doubled their lead when Mark Green found himself free in the box from a corner and he scored from six yards.
Ross then had their best spell of the half and when top scorer Jamie Warwick found himself in acres of space out on the left, he cut in and beat two defenders before driving home a curling shot that gave Penny no chance.
This rattled Ledbury and they did well to stop Ross equalising. Then Ledbury increased their lead when good play from Hall and Brooks set up Robbie Colwell to prod the ball past Newman.
The game was over as a contest with two goals just before half time. First Duncan Preedy robbed Ian Price, went past two defenders before firing past the helpless Newman then right on half-time a long clearance found Colwell and he raced through to score.
The second half was a dour battle as Ledbury seemed to get pushed further back and little was seen of them as an attacking force.
Ledbury's only second half goal was scored by central defender Mark Green who was left alone once more in the area for an identical goal to the one he scored in the first half.
Ledbury Town will have to play a lot better when they entertain table-toppers and local rivals Malvern Town at home tomorrow (Saturday), kick off 2.45pm.
Ledbury, who won 2-1 at Langland Stadium earlier on in the season, need to beat Malvern to keep their own title ambitions alive.
Ledbury Town Reserves were defeated 1-0 away at Bridgnorth Town Reserves last Saturday and still sit on the bottom of the West Midlands Division One (South) table with just six points from 17 games.
The Reserves have no match tomorrow (Saturday).
Ledbury Town's first round Premier Division League Cup match away at Herefordshire rivals Kington Town on Tuesday night was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
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