Ludlow Town 0 Chasetown 1-

ONCE again Ludlow produced a sound overall performance with no reward for all their hard work and endeavour, as the visitors pinched the Midland Alliance League points with a late goal.

The home team created an early chance but Darren Leonard's shot was well saved by Simon Bryon, and then it was the turn of Martin Poole in the Town goal to deny Chasetown with a fine save at the near post.

This bright opening was to be maintained throughout the 90 minutes as both teams created chances, but lacked both the killer instinct and perhaps the little bit of luck needed in front of goal. Following a neat build-up Alan Hider went round Bryan but placed his shot wide of the target, and then Phil Bates did the same with a header from a Mark Hulse free kick.

In spite of more half chances to the home team, it was not all one-way traffic as Poole had to be on his best form to deny Karl Edwards. The second half produced more end-to-end play with Poole lucky to recover from another Edwards shot after he had initially mishandled the ball.

The game appeared to be heading for a draw but then the Town were hit by the sucker punch in the 77th minute. A long ball down the middle was headed on by Simon Gossage and with Poole anticipating that the ball was going wide, could only watch as it sailed into the back of the net.

Although they increased their efforts, the closest they came was a couple of efforts from Darryl Smith and Bates.