Ledbury SWIFTS U13s 7, BARTESTREE U13s 1

AFTER six weeks without a match Swifts U13s returned to action in the first round of the Bederoes Cup against Bartestree.

A strong Bartestree side dominated the first quarter of the match but failed to open up the Swifts' defence of Tom Green, Aarron Hall, Alistair Mitchell and Neilly Florence, who were marshalled well by Jason Walker in goal.

On 20 minutes Ollie Ford played a super ball through to Richard Watkins on the right, who cut inside the full-back and lashed a right foot shot over the goalkeeper to make it 1-0 with Swifts' first meaningful attack. This stunned Bartestree and led to some heavy challenges resulting in a penalty after a clumsy challenge on Ollie Ford in the box. Ollie picked himself up and coolly slotted the ball home for 2-0. Soon afterwards Neilly Florence met a Bartestree clearance 35 yards out, hit it first time and almost burst the Bartestree net.

With the first-half coming to an end Swifts lost a bit of concentration and some loose play let the opposition in to score despite a fine effort by goalie Jason Walker.

Swifts started the second-half brightly and it wasn't long before Dean Lee turned the defence inside out and scored from the edge of the box to make it 4-1.

More good work by Dean on the left led to a cross for Harry Gregory to slot home for 5-1. With Ben Adams making some good runs on the right and Andy Matthews working hard in midfield it was soon 6-1.

After an exchange of passes on the edge of box between Ashley Wadley and Richard Watkins, Ollie Ford fired home his second of the match.

Ashley Wadley then rounded things off with a well-taken goal to make the final score 7-1.

Ross JUNIORS U12s 3, LEDBURY SWIFTS U12s 2

LEDBURY Swifts U12s travelled to Ross Juniors in the Herefordshire Junior Football League on Sunday.

Last minute drop outs meant the Swifts were only able to field ten players. Despite this setback the Swifts started the game in breathtaking fashion producing a stunning display of passing football that had last season's league champions chasing shadows for much of the first-half.

The Swifts created numerous half-chances before Neil Green's excellent right-wing cross found Ashley Smith, who fired home the opening goal. Ross responded but the Swifts' back three, well marshalled by Gavin Walton, gave the Ross strikers no opportunity to level the scores.

Prompted by AJ Smith and Charlie Barrett, Swifts pushed forward again and another passing move between Sam Keetch, Neil Green and Jon Mowday saw the Swifts doubling their lead after Jon Mowday fired home Neil Green's excellent cross. Ashley Smith's strong runs down the left wing gave the Swifts the opportunity to attack down both flanks, his well flighted cross was met by Sam Keetch whose powerful header was cleared off the line by a Ross defender.

As the game progressed the Swifts, with no available substitutes and with three players feeling the effects of playing an earlier fixture in the morning, tired. Thomas Whatmore made two stunning saves and some excellent defending from Gavin Walton, David Benhanni and Alexander Firth kept the Swifts ahead. Eventually the pressure told and Ross scored three goals to secure a narrow victory.

Another excellent performance from the Swifts bodes well for next season for those players committed to this talented squad.

Next Sunday Swifts are at home to MLC kick-off 2pm.

LEDBURY SWIFTS U11S 6, Weobley U11S 2

SWIFTS remain unbeaten in division two of the HJFL U11 league after this confident performance against previously unbeaten Weobley.

Ledbury opted to play with the wind and slope in the first half and it soon paid dividends in the fifth minute, when Luke Summers' cross from the right was met at the near post by Matthew Rooke, who squeezed the shot home past the visitors' keeper.

The home side maintained the pressure with Joe Crichard and Ben Brown both going close, before Joe Crichard made it 2-0, scoring direct from a corner by using the strong wind to help the ball in.

James Godsall in the home goal had very little to do as the half wore on, with Ledbury doing all the attacking. Ledbury knew they needed to increase their lead before half-time, as the conditions would then favour Weobley, and after 25 minutes Luke Summers scored a deserved third, poaching the ball from a fumble by the Weobley keeper, and slotting home from 12 yards.

At the start of the second-half, Weobley were soon on the attack, and pulled one back after James Godsall parried a driven cross, and the loose ball was bundled home.

Ledbury soon re-established their three-goal lead with a fine individual goal by Crichard, who beat three men on the edge of the box before shooting high beyond the reach of the keeper to make it 4-1.

It was end-to-end stuff as Weobley went back on the offensive; Ledbury repeatedly failed to clear their lines, and paid dearly as a shot from a Weobley attacker found the back of the net from a lofted shot.

At 4-2 it was game on, but Ledbury stepped up a gear to put the game beyond Weobley. Crichard capped a fine display by scoring his third and Ledbury's fifth from Anthony Watkins' cross, and Ben Brown made it 6-2, latching on to Watkins' through ball and placing his shot underneath the advancing keeper.

Weobley had one last chance for a consolation goal, but James Godsall came bravely off his line in a one on one to force the Weobley forward to shoot hurriedly wide.

Ledbury can now look forward with confidence to a flurry of five games in 12 days after Easter, and hope to carry on their unbeaten run.

LEDBURY SWIFTS RANGERS U10S 1, HINTON U10S 2

LEDBURY Rangers U10s, buoyed by recent results, went into this cup match full of confidence and it showed in their play.

They were up against a Hinton side that had beaten them 5-1 in the league, but the difference in quality was no longer apparent. The game started evenly and both sides made chances in the opening minutes.

The teams ran at each other and tried new openings to no avail until a clever ball through the centre found Thomas Coleman unmarked. He took the ball forward, beat the defence and then beat the keeper to open the scoring for Rangers.

Hinton began to rally and although play was fairly even they equalised before half-time.

With only minutes to go in the second half, Hinton scored again. Rangers rallied and pushed for the equaliser but were ultimately beaten by the whistle. The final score was 2-1 to Hinton, but the game was a close one and the winners were made to battle for every second of possession.