Junior Soccer Scene

SWIFTS entertained second-in-the-table Lads Club at Ross Road and in a competitive game were unlucky not to get a point after a much-improved performance.

However, Lads Club started strongly and Dave Reynolds in the Swifts' goal kept up his recent form with two good saves. Swifts' first meaningful attack ended with Tom Powell firing wide. Then on 12 minutes Lads Club scored when Swifts failed to clear their lines and in a scramble, the striker fired high into the roof of the net.

Swifts went in search of the equaliser. Good play by Craig Johns, Sam Crichard and Sam Topham started to cause Lads Club defence problems. Topham shot over the bar, Tom Powell's excellent run finished with a shot straight at the keeper and Crichard shot narrowly wide from distance. Chris Bodger, Roy Powell, Alex Edwards and the impressive Luke Perry were now coping better with the Lads Club attacks.

The second-half was a very even affair with both teams striving for that all-important next goal. Lads Club were thwarted in their attempts by the determination of the Swifts' defence. Swifts were their own worst enemy when good approach play failed to end in any serious threat to the Lads Club keeper.

On Sunday Swifts, sponsored by Three Counties Fisheries, are at home again when they play Bartestree in the first round of the Bill Bowcott Cup. Kick-off 2pm.

HEREFORD CITY SPORTS U14s 0,LEDBURY SWIFTS U14s 3

SWIFTS started well with Connor Fletcher scoring with a fine shot after receiving a good pass from Aaron Susans.

Aaron Susans and Ashley Wadley were both denied by the keeper before Neely Florence was replaced by Harry Ioannou, who immediately began to show some fine touches on his debut match for Swifts.

Connor Fletcher had a low shot saved just before Aaron Susans scored Swifts' second after a telling pass from Harry Ioannou. On Swifts' right, Ollie Ford, Richard Watkins and Ben Dudley worked well together and Aaron Susans came close again with a high strike.

Swifts made it three when Connor Fletcher brought down Ollie Ford's fine free-kick leaving Aaron Susans plenty of space for a tap-in to put Swifts.

Ben Dudley was desperately unlucky to see his left-footed shot come off the bar and Harry Ioannou also came close in the box. Ally Mitchell shot just wide and Jason Walker's shot failed to dip enough to get under the bar. Lee Hince, whose services had been rarely required, pulled off a fine save on the line after City Sports made a rare attack against the run of play.

Ollie Ford was again voted Swifts' man-of-the-match by the City Sports manager.

LEDBURY SWIFTS U11S 4, KINGTON U11S 3

LEDBURY Swifts U11s entertained Kington U11s at their Ross Road ground on Saturday in what turned out to be a seven-goal thriller.

Kington initiated two early attacks on the Swifts goal but were thwarted by some sound defensive play from Joe Llewellin and James Charlesworth. At the other end of the pitch Daniel Sewell demonstrated some sharp thinking when he looped a long throw-in over the Kington defence into the path of Jack Pritchard. He gathered the ball and sped towards the right side of the penalty area, evaded the approaching Kington defenders and struck a firm shot into the back of the net.

The goal seemed to galvanise the Swifts into action and they enjoyed a really good passage of play. Daniel Sewell released an early ball through to Daniel O'Neill who hit a first time shot which just went over the cross bar. This was immediately followed by another a fine shot from Daniel Sewell which just cleared the right hand post.

Undaunted the Swifts continued to press forward based on a fine defensive platform laid by Joe Llewellin, James Charlesworth, Ben Butler and Kasihta Machae aided and abetted by Jonathan Gooch in the Swifts goal and the ever reliable William Notley in the holding midfield role. This platform and strong midfield performances from Charlie McCarthy and Thomas Coleman enabled the Swifts to introduce Toby Lee into the action, to give a welcome return from injury to Tom Brain and to give Mats Gerling his first competitive outing.

Although the Swifts controlled the first-half of the match, Kington continually tested the Swifts and they were rewarded for their efforts with an equalising goal just before the half-time whistle blew.

The Swifts responded by sending out their most experienced side to start the second-half in a bid to regain control of this important match. However, they encountered a highly motivated Kington team who scored a second goal when the Swifts stopped playing in the expectation of winning a free-kick. As is often the case Kington stretched their lead to a two-goal advantage moments later when they scored a third goal from close range. Charlie McCarthy created a number of goal scoring chances with some long range free-kicks and Ben Butler headed just over the bar from a well-flighted corner. Thomas Coleman also went close with a long range effort. Eventually the Swifts pressure finally told. Jack Pritchard floated in yet another corner and with Ben Butler timing his run towards the back post to perfection the ball flew into the back of the net. Moments later Jack and Ben combined again when Ben forced the ball into the net with a near post header. In between Joe Llewellin made an incredibly important goal saving tackle for the Swifts.

With seconds remaining, Daniel Sewell and Daniel O'Neill combined again to create another attack from midfield. As Kington repeatedly attempted to clear their lines they conceded a hand ball in the area. Jack Pritchard stuck a firm shot wide of the diving Kington goal keeper to run out 4-3 winners.

The Swifts, sponsored by Frydays Fishbar of Ledbury, are next in action against Leominster Minors Colts on Saturday, November 18.

ROSS DYNAMOS COLTS U10s 3, BROMSBERROW UNITED U10S 5

ON a crisp sunny morning Bromsberrow got off to a flying start when in the first minute Ben Miller intercepted a Ross throw-in and hit a powerful shot into the net.

Almost straight away after this Ryan Jones passed through to Ben Miller who made it 2-0 with a low shot. This seemed to wake Ross up and they and they pulled a goal back in the 12th minute with a shot into the top corner of the net. In the 19th minute Bromsberrow restored their two goal advantage when Ben Miller crossed to Tom Skittery who hammered the ball into the net to make the score 3-1.

The second-half started off with Ross dominating play and they came very close to getting back into the game. Then in the 15th minute Bromsberrow made it 4-1 when a Ben Miller cross was unfortunately put into his own net by a Ross defender. Three minutes from the end, the game looked over when Tom Skittery passed through to Ben Miller in the six yard box and he duly completed his hat trick with a low drive, making it 5-1. Ross kept battling on and were rewarded with two good goals in the last two minutes, both powerful shots to make the final score 5-3 to Bromsberrow and keep their unbeaten start.

LEDBURY SWIFTS U9s 4, WELLINGTON U9s 2

LEDBURY Swifts played hosts to Wellington on Saturday hoping to maintain their 100 per cent record.

The game itself couldn't have started any better for Ledbury when inside the first half minute of the game Ledbury went on the attack and Jake Robson finished well to put Ledbury into a 1-0 lead. The remainder of the first-half was a scrappy affair until Alex Bradley scored a fine goal from distance to put Ledbury into a 2-0 lead.

The second-half started much the same as the first. The game seemed to be put out of reach of Wellington when an Alex Bradley shot was spilled by the Wellington goal keeper only to find Harvey Moss quick to react and put Ledbury into a 3-0 lead. Ledbury were soon looking over their shoulders when Wellington managed to score two quick goals reducing the scoreline to 3-2. Swifts did manage to wrap things up after Harvey Moss crossed from the right finding Dan Batty inside the box, who calmly finished giving Ledbury the 4-2 win.

Tomorrow (Saturday), Ledbury Swifts welcome Bartestree in the cup, both teams with 100 per cent records, kick-off 10.30am.