Ledbury's spirited comeback fell just short as they succumbed to a narrow defeat against Worcester, losing 21-27 in a thrilling encounter, writes Roger Bateson.
The Counties 1 Midlands West (South) league match on October 4 was held at Worcester's home ground, with the fixture kicking off early at 12 noon due to the later Warriors clash against Coventry at Sixways.
Worcester opened the scoring with a try out wide, capitalising on early pressure, although with the posts swaying perilously the conversion went wide, leaving the score at five-nil.
Ledbury responded with a promising opportunity after a long kick from Jack Hughes set up a throw-in on the Worcester five-metre line.
Harry Harris caught well but was stopped in his tracks, resulting in a penalty against them for players in front of the ball carrier.
As the match progressed, Ledbury's dominance in the scrum became evident, earning a penalty for a collapsing front row.
Despite this, Worcester managed to escape their danger area after Ledbury's throw in a howling wind was deemed not straight.
Worcester's 10 was then penalised for taking out Harry Harris off the ball, but Ledbury could not capitalise on the advantage.
The home side soon struck again, executing a well-drilled rolling maul to extend their lead to 12-0 on 25 minutes.
Ledbury's attempts to break through the Worcester defence were thwarted time and again, despite several promising moves from Curtis Williams, George Wallin, and John Parker, so it remained 12-0 at half time.
The second half began with Worcester maintaining their dominance, but Ledbury's Arron Almond and Charlie Barber-Starkey began to make inroads.
A break from Ed Bennion looked the most promising chance but for a miscued pass to Ollie Delamore.
Worcester seized their chance to get back in the Ledbury half and before long were in to make it 17-0.
However, Ledbury finally found their rhythm.
A strong run from John Parker set the stage for Blessing Mwaisoloka to power through to ground the ball to the right of the posts with Jack Hughes converting to bring the score to 17-7.
With renewed confidence, Ledbury's George Wallin scored again within minutes, following a clever chip from Hughes, narrowing the gap to 17-14.
A surprised Worcester responded quickly, taking advantage of a string of missed tackles to extend their lead to 22-14.
With John Parker and Charlie Barber-Starkey both off injured and Archie Thomas and Rob Anscomb on, the rejig settled before Ed Wallin was in from close and with another Jack Hughes conversion it was 22-21.
With the match hanging in the balance, Ledbury's Josh Bishop made a determined run down the line but met a Worcester wall just short of the try line.
With Mwaisoloka now off injured John Parker bravely re-entered the fray. Iolo Bubb attempted a break from deep but Ledbury were deemed offside, which gave Worcester their chance to counter and with a jiggle through, they made it 27-21 with a minute to go.
Despite the loss, Ledbury showed great character against an experienced well-drilled Worcester side, coming back from 17-0 to nearly clinch it.
Next Saturday, they face an away trip to Old Leamingtonians, who recently suffered a heavy 17-73 defeat to Worcester, allowing Ledbury to travel with some confidence.
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