Junior Soccer Scene

SWIFTS entertained high-riding Kington at the Ross Road last Sunday but after a hard-working performance went down to a much stronger outfit.

Kington showed a lot of early promise but wayward shooting let Swifts off the hook. They made Kington pay for their misses when Sam Topham latched onto a loose ball, he evaded three challenges then hit an unstoppable shot from just outside the box to put Swifts 1-0 up. Kington continued to press but poor finishing and some superb saves from Dave Reynolds kept Swifts in the lead. They nearly doubled their lead when Topham put Luke Quinn in but his attempted chip was just saved by the Kington keeper. Swift's defenders Ian Davies, Chris Bodger, Luke Perry and Joe Markiewicz continued to work hard to keep the Kington attack out but they were undone ten minutes before the break when the Kington centre-forward neatly finished from a good through ball.

The second-half was only five minutes old when Kington went 2-1 up from the penalty spot. Though Swifts tried hard to get a equaliser through the tireless efforts of Sam Crichard, Markiewicz and Topham, Kington always looked the side most likely to score and duly added a third to take the points.

Swifts, sponsored by Three Counties Fisheries, travel to Hereford on Sunday to play Lads Club.

LEDBURY SWIFTS U14S 3, HEREFORD CITY SPORTS U14S 2

HAVING stuttered to defeat in their last three matches, Swifts took to the field against Hereford City Sports hoping to improve upon their recent run.

The home team looked to be in danger of conceding in the face of successive City attacks but Jason Walker held firm in goal with a few crucial saves.

The home defence of Ollie Lewis, Aaron Hall, Ally Mitchell and Neely Florence began to become more comfortable as midfielders Ben Adams, Andy Matthews, Alex Morgan and Lee Hince began to make their presence felt.

A combination of typical Harry Gregory tenacity and Ashley Wadley fighting spirit was rewarded when man-of-the-match Wadley played a fine pass parallel to the goal line which Gregory buried in the back of the net to put Swifts one up.

Very shortly afterwards, a moment's carelessness allowed City to score a well-deserved equaliser. Determined that Swifts should regain the lead, Ashley Wadley fought through a crowd of defenders and just failed to get a touch when a goal seemed certain.

Swifts started the second-half with Lee Hince back in familiar territory in the Swifts goal. For the first 15 minutes, Ledbury showed a glimpse of the type of football they can play and it was not long before Ben Dudley's fine header put Swifts 2-1 up. Ledbury went further in front when Jason Walker beat a couple of defenders before tapping the ball past the keeper.

In the dying moments, Swifts' Lee Hince guessed correctly before diving to his right and just failing to prevent City from scoring a penalty which left the score 3-2.

LEDBURY SWIFTS RANGERS U11S 1, LEOMINSTER U11S 1

RANGERS started brightly and with the game flowing between boxes they always looked dangerous.

This was evident as chances fell to Sean Parsons, the ever-dangerous Tom Poynor and to Will Blackaby.

When Sean scored in the middle of the half, it was a reward richly deserved for the weeks of hard work that preceded it.

With a narrow lead to defend against an attacking side, there was now plenty for keeper Liam Bramley and his defence to contend with. The whole team defended with heart and determination, led by the exemplary tenacity of Nick Bolton and the strength of Josh Williams. At times it was like the Etruscans on the banks of the Tiber: Whatever was thrown at the defence was repelled, by players who refused to wilt or panic. The first half ended 1-0 and despite some hard defending, Rangers looked the stronger. Matt Gore, at right back, personified the steely determination of this team's back line.

Adam Dalley came on in midfield in the second half, replacing Kane Hill, who himself came back on in the dying minutes for Yasmin Simpkin. Some determined play by Leominster brought them a goal in the early moments of the second half, adding further edge to the game. There followed almost 30 minutes of non-stop running as play ebbed and flowed between the goals. Both teams had chances and both were thwarted by last-ditch defending of the highest order.

Rangers' player of the week was Sean Parsons.

LEDBURY SWIFTS U11S 0, PEGASUS JUNIORS U11S 3

LEDBURY Swifts U11s entertained Pegasus Juniors U11's in the Tony Cole Cup on Saturday.

With Pegasus occupying first place in league A of the Herefordshire Junior Soccer League this was always going to be a tough round despite the home advantage for the Swifts.

The Swifts started the game very brightly and enjoyed the balance of possession in the first 15 minutes as Pegasus struggled to come to terms with the competitive Swifts midfield foundation provided by Daniel Sewell, Daniel O'Neill and William Notley. Pegasus registered their first goal of the match in the 20th minute with a low drive into the bottom corner of the net.

As the half time mark grew ever closer, Pegasus started to reveal their league form and generated some fine attacking moves. In so doing they showed their maturity in front of goal when one striker flashed a firm shot across the front of goal in a pre-planned move, Jonathan Gooch made a fine dive but was only able to deflect the ball into the path of a Pegasus striker who scored.

The Swifts continued to contest the game in fine style at the beginning of the second half and matched every Pegasus move. Kasihta Machae and Tom Brain had a particularly good second half and showed a lot of spirit on the left side of the Swifts defence.

Pegasus scored again to secure a 3-0 win and progress into the next round.

The Swifts, sponsored by Frydays Fish Bar of Ledbury, play an away fixture against Kington tomorrow.

ROSS JUNIOR GUNNERS U10s 0, BROMSBERROW UNITED U10s 12

BROMSBERROW got off to a great start with Ben Miller firing in a low shot from a Scott Brown pass in the first minute.

Ross came battling back but could not get through the Bromsberrow defence and were caught on the break with Tom Skittery driving the ball into the net to make it 2-0 in the fifth minute. Bromsberrow continued to dominate with some excellent passing movements, leading to Tom Skittery scoring two more goals in the ninth and tenth minutes making it 4-0. Ross tried to get back into the game but were undone when Felix Jones found Harrison Oakshott-Francis, who slid the ball to Tom Skittery, who flicked the ball home for a 5-0 lead.

The second half started off in the same manner with Ben Miller scoring two more goals in the first five minutes. With Ross now looking shell shocked the same player added two more goals to make it 9-0. Further goals from Ryan Gobey, Miles Cafful, with his first goal of the season, and Ben Miller made it 12-0 and this result enabled Bromsberrow to go top of the league for the first time this season.

PEGASUS COLTS U9S 0, LEDBURY SWIFTS U9S 2

LEDBURY Swifts U9s travelled to Pegusus Colts U9s in a top of the table clash.

Ledbury went into the game only needing to take 1 point from second place Pegusus to win the league.

The match itself was a credit to junior football,with both teams playing some outstanding football.

The first half was a very close encounter with both teams having chances. The defence for Swifts of Joe James, Daniel Smith marshalled well by captain Thomas Trigg were in outstanding form. As were the battling midfield duo of Harvey Moss and Jake Robson.

The second-half started well for Pegusus Colts with there striker forcing Micheal gooch to save well and had a shot hit the crossbar.

The game took a dramatic turn when out of the blue Daniel Batty struck the ball from distance into the top corner of the net. This goal seemed to unsteady Pegusus Colts and Ledbury pushed forward causing problems for the goalkeeper. Then with only minutes remaining that goal-machine Daniel Batty scored his second goal of the game shooting high into the net giving Ledbury Swifts the points in a hard-fought battle.

The final result was enough to give Ledbury Swifts U9s the points and made sure they won the league.

Ledbury Swifts have one more league game remaining against Bartestre Bulls.