THE Bell Inn made the long trip to Kempsey for this eagerly awaited top of the Malvern League table clash with league leaders Kempsey United.

KEMPSEY UNITED 4, BELL IN 98 2

The match kicked off late due to the home side being delayed by road works, and it was a pretty even first half with hard crunching tackles flying in from both sides. Tim Febrey and Tony Evans in the centre of the midfield both put in excellent performances against a youthful home side.

After 45mins the sides were all square at 0-0, and assistant manager Mike Barnes gave an excellent half time team talk to spur the team on for what they knew was going to be a tough half playing a side with an average age of just 17.

The second half was a far more open affair with the large crowd being treated to six goals.

Kempsey opened the scoring when their 16 yr old attacker dribbled past the Bell defence and then teed the ball up to volley past Luke Ledbury in the away goal.

The Bell fought back strongly and grabbed a well deserved equalizer through Tony Reynolds who scored his 11th of the season, and places him up amongst the top scorers in the league.

Then came the turning point as The Bell had played and worked their offside trap yet again, only for referee to play advantage and allow the Kempsey striker to close down Ian Hopkins and win the ball, which he then magnificently chipped over the advancing Ledbury from 40 yards.

Kempsey then scored two quick goals to make it 4-1 with just 10 minutes to go. There was no way back for the Bell despite a late consolation goal from man of the match Dave Beech.

On Sunday the Bell will be hosting old foes Fromes Hill in a much awaited local derby, with the first round of the cup against Kempsey to follow.

Players should meet at the changing rooms at 10.02am.To find out more about the Bell Inn98 why not visit their website http: //www.thesoccersite.co.uk/bellinn98.