Glossop North End 2, Ludlow Town 3

LUDLOW Town produced a fine all round team performance in Derbyshire to record a rare FA Cup victory.

Martin Davies scored twice in the first half and then Steve McCormack netted a third in the early stages of the second, before the home team struck back with two late goals.

Their reward for this preliminary round win is a home fixture at the Coors Stadium against Newcastle Town in the first qualifying round.

Newcastle play in the same division as Glossop, namely the North West Counties Division 1, and on Saturday had a hard fought 4-1 win over Unibond Division 1 outfit Kidsgrove.

Davies opened the scoring for Ludlow midway through the first half when he latched onto a Paul Tomlins header down from a corner, to slide the ball home from six yards. He doubled the tally ten minutes later when he took the ball with his back to goal, swivelled round and fired in a shot that surprised the keeper who could only help the ball into the net.

Early in the second half, substitute Martin Mackenzie sent over a neat cross to allow Steve McCormack to rise above a couple of defenders and deftly head past the keeper. Michael Thomas came on during the second half to replace Nicky Porter who was carrying an injury.

North End reduced the arrears from a scrambled goal and then added a second during the second minute of injury time with a sweetly struck shot. The referee allowed the kick-off and then blew for time to signal a fine victory for the visitors.

Ludlow are further boosted by the return of an old favourite, Andy Jones from Oldbury. In combination with Davies and McCormack he should guarantee busy afternoon for opposition defenders.