Pelsall Villa 2 Ludlow Town 2

LUDLOW boss Les Bristow was disappointed with this result and said: "It was a case of two points dropped rather than a point gained", after his side had surrendered a two-goal lead and gifted fellow Midland Alliance strugglers a point with a couple of late defensive blunders.

The visitors started the game with some superb football and swept into a first minute lead when Darryl Smith hit the target to finish a delightful move.

Sustained pressure

They continued to dominate and kept their hosts under sustained pressure with a series of sweeping moves.

This brought its reward in the 20th minute when Smith struck again to give his team a two-goal cushion. Although Ludlow continued to dominate they failed to add to their total before the break thanks to some inspired saves from Pelsall's goalkeeper.

It was much the same after the interval with Ludlow creating chances and Pelsall hard pressed to keep them out.

The game changed in the last quarter when Pelsall substitute Derek Christopher followed up to take advantage of a mistake by Ludlow's goalkeeper Martin Poole, prodding the ball home after Poole had lost possession in the box.

Ludlow still had control of the game but another defensive lapse saw Eammon Hanlon grab a late equaliser.

Although Ludlow had commanded the game and should have won in a canter, assistant manager Rob Jones said: "We played some outstanding football. The team spirit was excellent and although we dropped a couple of points through a couple of defensive lapses we are heading in the right direction."