HOLDERS Woofferton scored twice in the final 20 minutes to beat Ledbury Town Reserves 2-1 at Aynall Lane and reach the second round of the HFA Charity Bowl.
Woofferton were not at their best during this first-round tie but still did enough to deserve the win. They came from behind after the Reserves took the lead on the stroke of half-time.
Nathan Hodge had a piledriver well saved by the Town keeper, but their finishing was wayward. This looked as if it might be costly when their keeper Dave Cooper was pulled up for a foul and Ledbury scored from the spot.
It was a similar story in the second half until the visitors handled the ball following a corner, and then Danny Gower converted the penalty to tie the score. Then Hodge beat his marker before firing the ball into the bottom corner to score the winner.
Ewyas Harold are also safely through to the next round after producing a strong second half performance to beat visiting Hinton 3-1.
Harold started brightly and it needed a finger-tip save from Kai Bond in the Hinton goal to prevent an opening goal for Matt Pitt.
Harold had better luck when Joe Taylor’s shot was deflected into the path of Nathan Scott who lashed the ball home from close-range.
Paul Monteath played the ball through for Wes Owen to net the equaliser and send the sides in at half-time on level-terms. The home side were fired up in the second half and went on to score two more goals.
They had to wait until the start of the final quarter to get back in front, Pitt was released by Tom Herbert and then fired the ball across Bond and into the bottom corner.
Jody Dawe responded with a couple of long-range shots for the city side, but Harold produced the better chances. Bond dived to save from Scott, but was only able to watch as James Wood gobbled up the chance when Scott played the ball into the danger area.
Home keeper Dan Taylor rounded off a sound performance with a fine late save from Dawe.
Last season’s beaten finalists Bromyard Town Reserves secured their place in the hat with a comfortable 4-0 win over Ross Town at Delahay Meadow.
The early exchanges were dominated by the visitors, but a mixture of good saves and wayward finishing kept Bromyard afloat. The home side turned things around and broke the deadlock with a header from a corner in the early stages of the second half.
The Ross side wilted after this setback and one soon became three as the Reserves added two more goals in quick succession.
The newcomers’ misery was completed when manager Ian Phillips was penalised for holding inside the area and Bromyard converted the spot kick.
The local-derby tie between Sutton United and Wellington Reserves was played at Marden as United’s ground was still out of action after the recent rain. Sutton ran out 4-2 winners.
The game was well contested in midfield, but the home side’s extra thrust in front of goal left the outcome fairly predictable after Sutton had taken an early lead.
Stuart New used his pace to catch the Reserves defence out and opened the scoring in the fifth minute. Keith Holmans was on target for the second, but Tom McLean pulled a goal back just before the break to give his side some hope.
This anticipation drained away when New popped up again at the start of the second half. Dan Herbert grabbed a fourth, but Wellington refused to lie down as Aaron Morgan pulled a goal back. They huffed and puffed, but never looked capable of overcoming the deficit.
Lads Club were another side to take an early lead and the city side never looked back as they went on to demolish home club Fownhope 9-1.
The home keeper was in action early on, tipping a Keith Jones header over the bar.
John Roche featured in the first four goals, all scored during the opening half hour.
He laid on a chance for Josh Pugh, then knocked in the second himself before laying on the third for Jones. He rounded off the spell with his second goal when he headed in a Richie Maturi cross. Ben Arnold added a fifth.
Fownhope showed some spirit at the start of the second half but failed to unlock the city side’s defence. Mike Olive and a cracker from Pugh stretched the lead to 7-0 before the home side pulled a goal back from the penalty spot after Dave Olive handled the ball.
Jones scored his second and Ryan Daw headed home to complete the scoring.
Westfields are also in the hat for the next round after Kington Town conceded their tie as they were unable to raise a side. Pegasus Reserves and Leominster Town, who both received byes into this stage, will complete the line-up.
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