Ledbury Town settled into the flow of the game early on and applied pressure on the visitors Bustleholme creating a number of chances in this Express & Star West Midlands league Premier Division fixture at New Street.
LEDBURY TOWN 2, BUSTLEHOLME 1
Then the home side were hit by a double blow within 10 minutes of each other, firstly Steve Powell was substituted due to an injury and then leading goalscorer Robbie Colwell twisted his knee and also had to be substituted. Ian Forshaw came on for Steve Powell and Nick Stockley was introduced for Robbie Colwell.
Ledbury were now unsettled as they practically had to start all over again although Nick Stockley soon made an impact on the game.
Following some good play and a superb through ball from the midfield, Stockley finished calmly to put Ledbury 1 - 0 up.
Bustleholme did not let their heads drop and they kept battling creating some reasonable chances but could not finish and Ledbury went in at half time 1- 0 up.
The second half saw both teams battling hard for the points. Ledbury had now found their formation again and begun to create some good passing play although in the later stages of the game both teams started to tire.
Ledbury knew that they needed another goal to put the game out of reach for Bustleholme and with Herbert and Stewart playing well together up front Ledbury created a fine chance. A good pass came from Stuart Hall to Ian Stewart giving Ian the chance to turn his opponent and finish well from the edge of the box.
Bustleholme were not prepared to go down without a struggle and got one goal back but it was too late to stop the home side picking up three more points.
Ledbury squad: Rory Hollingshead, Chris Powell, Pete Brown, Mike Panter, Steve Powell, Mark Herbert, Stuart Hall, Jon Ralph, Nicky Welch, Robbie Colwell, Ian Stewart, Ian Forshaw, Nick Stockley, Toan Ravenscroft, Dave Morris, Dean Henman.
Now sixth in the league table Ledbury are doing more than just holding their own in this higher-graded division.
Club secretary Shelley Marsh said: "Manager Paul Wilband alongside Mark Jones and Roly Welch are working hard to keep the team as fit and healthy as possible, which is not an easy task. The players are also working hard and have risen to the challenge of the higher league extremely well."
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