Newport Town 2 Ludlow Town 1

LUDLOW are struggling to regain their early season form after their long mid-season lay-off.

They started well enough in their crucial fixture at Newport, but their form and luck deserted them in the closing stages and they went down to two late strikes from the home side.

Town looked to be heading for the top of Sportsjamkits.com Shropshire County Premier League when Luke Hicks scored midway through the second half to put them ahead.

Minutes later they lost their keeper Dave Cooper and the home side banged in two late goals against stand-in keeper Dave Humphries to claim the win and take over the leadership themselves, pushing Town down to fourth spot.

Ludlow played well during the first quarter despite the sticky conditions but a mixture of good defending and lack of sharpness in front of goal prevented them from taking the lead.

They did manage to get their noses in front when Hicks curled his free-kick beyond the home keeper in the second half.

Cooper hurt his thumb in a clash soon after and this changed the complexion of the match.

Newport raised their game and they equalised minutes later. the game looked to be heading for a draw when a cross-cum-shot beat Humphries to give Newport the points.

Ludlow will be away again this weekend when they travel to Telford to take on Impact United.