LUDLOW Town Ladies lifted the inaugural Ross Invitational Women's Cup after a 4-3 victory over Hay Saint Mary's in front of a large crowd at the Ross-on-Wye Sports Centre.

The lower-graded Saints were looking to cause a cup final upset and opened the scoring in the 14th minute when Alice Hanning struck an effort over the Ludlow goalkeeper from the edge of the penalty area.

The Shropshire club levelled the scores 11 minutes before the interval when a low 25-yard strike flew into the Hay St Mary's goal.

Ludlow started the second half with a bang netting two quick goals. The Shropshire side went ahead in the opening minute of the second half as their opponents were caught out by a swift counter-attack before taking advantage of some defensive errors to score again three minutes later.

However, the Saints kept battling and halved their deficit in the 58th minute when Alisha Herdman's shot from the right side of the penalty area surprised the Ludlow goalkeeper and found the back of the net.

The Forest Road club were back on level terms 10 minutes later when Hanning's corner trickled inside the near post after taking a deflection off a Ludlow defender.

The final was now back in the balance but, after finding their way back into the match, Hay St Mary's went behind again only three minutes later courtesy of a close-range finish after the Saints defence were unable to clear the ball from the penalty area.

The Breconshire club pushed to find another equalising goal in the closing stages but the silverware headed back north up the A49.

Results: Bridge: Ledgemoor Bridge is Fun Club (March 23): 1. Adrian Lunt & Liz Drew 65.3%; 2. Helen Powers & Daniel Pearce-Higgins 56.9; 3. Charlie Baker & Janet Jenman 53.5.

Lyonshall Bridge Club: Duplicate Pairs (March 21): 1. Liz Thorneycroft & Fran Lewis 66.40; 2. Cary Goode & Caroline Weymouth 62.17; 3. Sue Powell & Sue Davies 55.56.