LEDBURY Town kicked off their away league campaign in style with a 5-0 thumping of newcomers Coppertops.

Town, who started the season off with a 2-0 win at home against old rivals Holme Lacy, demolished Coppertops at the University of Worcester.

Playing in muggy sunshine on the 3G pitch at the uni, a contentious refereeing decision allowed new signing Ryan Pugh to score his first goal for the club, turning in a Joel Skyers free kick.

This was followed by a penalty given for handball, from which Ben Febery put Town 2-0 up in the 38th minute.

A corner ball from the visiting skipper saw the referee give a penalty, allowing Febery to step up and confidently fire home to double his side’s lead.

Pugh scored again before half-time with a header, before a further double from Pugh in the second half.

Dale Taylor, racing to stop the ball from escaping over the near sideline, saw a cross deflected away from Williams by the defender in front of him, only for his follow-up ball to be met with Pugh’s header from the opposite wing to see Town hit three.

It was a heated encounter, with both sides questioning a number of decisions for free kicks in the first half.

The hosts went close on the 23rd minute with their own free kick hitting the wall and a number of other chances going wide.

A corner ball from the city-based squad was caught by Ledbury keeper Cosmin Micula in the second half above him while under pressure from an opposing forward on the line, before Pugh retired at a job well done on the 70thminute to see Walker re-enter the action.

Ledbury then hit five when a sliding challenge from the Coppertops goaltender relieved Williams of possession, only for the ball to meet Skyers on the far wing as he wasted no time in producing a strike which beat the back-pedalling keeper.

Town have little time to recover from their first away fixture of the season however as this coming Tuesday evening sees them host newly-promoted Worcester United, who finished champions of the then-Herefordshire FA County League Division One last season (KO 7:30pm), before taking take on formidable rivals of last season Clee Hill United at home on Saturday (KO 2:30pm).