Ludlow Town Reserves 3 Malvern Town Reserves 0

LUDLOW moved into fourth place in the West Midlands League Division One South with a solid performance against mid-table Malvern.

They moved to within a point of second place, as both Bridgnorth and Bilston dropped points in drawn games. Gornal extend their lead after their 5-0 demolition of bottom club Ledbury.

Ludlow got away to a flying start and took the lead after just two minutes. Stuart Richards and Shaun Parker started a movement inside their own half and the latter played a long ball forward to set Adam Bowen free, and he rounded the Malvern keeper to fire home.

On the half hour mark it was 2-0, Howard Shearing surged forward and crossed to Micky Duppa who in turn headed on to Bowen, and he beat his marker to slot home his second goal.

Ludlow continued to push forward after the break and on the hour made the points safe with a third goal. Simon Bull picked out Duppa, and he beat the oncoming keeper to the ball, and coolly netted from the edge of the box.

Manager Chris Key was naturally pleased with the team performance, and picked out the debutante performances of James Williams and Craig Ladek between the posts for special mention. On the downside he was sad to report that long-serving duo Dom Leech and Chris Lloyd had parted company with the club and he wished them good-luck in the future.

This weekend Ludlow Town Reserves make the short trip to Bridgnorth for a derby fixture with a 2.45pm kick-off.