Ledbury were asked by their captain to deliver an improved defensive performance with a higher degree of personal responsibility if they had any chance of defeating Wolverhampton in the second round of the Powergen Intermediate Cup.

WOLVERHAMPTON 28pts, LEDBURY 33pts

Despite Wolverhampton being in the league above, Ledbury remained confident that an almost full strength team could reach the third round if they could play to their full ability.

Ledbury dominated the opening passages of play with a new sense of urgency that saw both the backs and forwards working well off each other. It wasn't long before they opened their account through vice captain, Peter Elkington, who timed his run to perfection after the forwards had secured four phases of play and released the backs to show their handling skills.

Ledbury added to their lead through a penalty struck by Gould but soon surrendered their 8-0 lead by missing tackles in the midfield which allowed Wolverhampton to score a converted try. Ledbury could have gone behind at this stage, save for some excellent defensive tackling by Rob Chapman, Elkington and Simon Wragg.

The following 20 minutes determined who had the more belief in their own performance and it showed it was Ledbury. Aggressive tackling, team cohesion and the constant barrage of back row forwards Martin Williams and Isiah Young crossed the gain line. This allowed the ball to be shipped to the backs and out to winger Ollie Kaye who touched down in the corner. Unconverted, this gave Ledbury a lead of 13-7.

Man of the match Isiah Young scored his first try of the game just short of half time. Supporting the powerful centre partnership of Pickering and Putland, Young managed to burst through three tackles and finish off his 30 yard run to score under the posts. This was converted by Gould to leave the score at 20-7 to Ledbury.

Wolverhampton remained upbeat, which was more as a result of Ledbury not always making first time tackles, which allowed their backs to get in behind Ledbury's defence. This resulted in the half time score of 20-14 to Ledbury.

Ledbury slipped behind after 10 minutes of the second half through a try scored in the corner for which the touch judge had blocked vision. Had he been in view, the foot in touch would have preserved Ledbury's lead.

For the final 20 minutes of the game, the lead was to change hands a couple more times. Ledbury, running on passion, finished the game strongly thanks to effective substitutions which saw Cameron Doig come on despite suffering a cut to his head the week before. Tara Barnett also took to the field and saw him make good ground down the centre. Bruce Jones also secured his first team debut coming on at scrum half.

Young scored his second try of the match with another strong burst of pace following three phases of play. Barrett Price converted.

A further try by the home side left Ledbury trailing by one point with four minutes to play. A turnover ball, secured by Christopherson, forced Wolverhampton to concede a penalty just inside their half. Price advised his skipper that he could convert from the full 40 yards and he was true to his word.

The final passage of play saw Price step up again and secure another three points from a penalty which left Ledbury marching on to the third round.

Captain Mick Christopherson said: "I was delighted in the steep change in performance which saw some great individual displays and a sense of team pride."

Vice captain Elkington added: "This performance cements the fact that LRFC has what it takes to deliver at this level, we now need to deliver week in, week out."