LEDBURY FC's unbeaten start to the season ended with a jolt as AFC Kempsey stormed to a 3–1 win at the HD Anywhere Stadium.
A Brad Birch double and a late strike from Josh Farnsworth secured a deserved victory for the hosts, with Josh Burns’ neat finish offering only brief hope for the visitors.
Kempsey set the tone from the outset. Farnsworth, a constant menace on the left, repeatedly tore into Ledbury’s defence and forced early saves from Oscar Bignell.
The breakthrough came after Rich Smith combined cleverly with Matt Fusco.
Smith’s effort was parried by Bignell, but Birch reacted quickest to ram home the rebound.
Ledbury struggled to string passes together, repeatedly forced into errors and long clearances. When they did break forward, Ben Febery carried the ball dangerously, but his cutback lacked support as Kempsey’s defence regrouped.
Birch doubled the advantage before the break, finishing crisply after another slick move between Fusco and Smith.
Kempsey should have been further ahead, Smith narrowly missing a teasing cross from Elliott Ash that would have put the contest beyond doubt.
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Ledbury needed a response and found one just two minutes after the restart. James Febery launched a long ball forward, which Burns killed stone dead before gliding past three defenders and dinking a lovely finish over Alfie Pitt.
The goal briefly sparked the visitors into life. Substitute Dean Lee injected urgency down the left, creating space for Burns to go close again, only to see his effort deflected just wide.
Kempsey remained sharper in the final third. Farnsworth burst clear again to set up Ryan Smith, who somehow miscued with the goal at his mercy.
But the hosts were not to be denied. Ten minutes from time, Fusco delivered a pinpoint cross to the far post, where Farnsworth arrived at full tilt to thunder his header past Bignell.
Ledbury pushed late on, Burns combining with substitute Ben Sluman, but Pitt in the Kempsey goal remained largely untested. At the other end, Bignell denied a fourth with a fine stop from Jamie Haines.
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