Other Fixtures

12-06-04: Friendly Match
Ledbury Swifts - 7 (Rooke 2 33 40, Preece 3 13 23, Brown 39)
Pencome - 1 (Smith pen 25)

Recently formed Pencombe came to Swifts for one of their first matches, and got a lesson in solid passing football as the Swifts equalled their best tally this season. The visitors were left reeling after just two minutes when a Joe Crichard clearance found David Preece who passed inside to Ben Brown. He immediately saw Matthew Rooke in acres of space on the right, and played him on, Rooke converting the chance from a tight angle for the opening goal. From the kick-off, Pancombe launched a long ball straight at goal, which was easily picked up by keeper Patrick Merryman, his long goal kick found Brown who ran on to shoot, his effort was saved but Preece followed up and slotted the ball home for 2-0 inside three minutes. Ledbury continued to make the running with some good passing moves and solid defending from David Nash and Michael Arlott. Ledbury's third was again started by Crichard who had a go himself, but again the shot was parried, Brown picked it up but unselfishly passed it to Preece whose shot took a deflection off a defender to leave the keeper helpless. 3-0 at half-time and after the restart Pencombe mustered some attacking play of their own, but were caught on the break. The resulting corner bobbled around in the box before Preece knocked it in for his hat-trick. Pencome again came back at the Swifts, their next attack saw Crichard unlucky to be judged to have handled the ball while blocking a shot, the result penalty was struck firmly into the corner for Pencome's consolation goal. Despite that, Swifts returned quickly to business as usual, another long Merryman goal kick was picked up by Rooke who ran on and scored in a fine solo effort, and moments later Crichard made another strong run on the left, crossed to Rooke who played Brown on for the home side's sixth. In the dying moments David Nash had a short parried, and Rooke pounced for his hat-trick. Final score 7-1 and good to see the team maintaining the momentum which should put them in good stead for the new season.


05-04-04: Friendly Match
Cheltenham Town - 3
Ledbury Swifts - 2 (Jones, Crichard)

No match report available


29-02-04: Friendly Match
Ledbury Swifts - 2 (Own Goal 4, Jones 36)
Mitcheldean - 1 (Rushworth 2)

Ledbury had an early wake-up call in this match against Gloucestershire side Mitcheldean, as Jimmy Rushworth latched onto a Ben Robins cross with just two minutes gone and left the defence and the Swifts goalkeeper standing to put the visitors ahead. Ledbury responded quickly, putting Mitcheldean under immediate pressure; Ben Brown had a shot saved, and moments later a Ryan Jones cross was turned in by a Mitcheldean defender to level the score. With honour restored, Ledbury settled down, and both sides began to play some attractive football, with good searching runs from Brown, Jones and Matthew Rooke for the home side. The Swifts defence made up for their earlier lapse by keeping the visitors at bay, Michael Arlott playing a central role, well supported by Luke Summers and Nick Gibbons, although on occasions, the flowing game of the Mitcheldean attack managed to get a couple of shots in although these were easily dealt with by keeper Patrick Merryman. In the second half, Ledbury began to take control; Arlott had a long-range shot saved, while Brown and Jones both put in jinking runs to round several defenders only see their shots picked off by the Mitcheldean keeper. Eventually the pressure told, and from a corner on the right, Rooke's shot was blocked, but Jones followed up and planted the ball firmly in the net for Ledbury's deserved winner.


31-01-04: Friendly Match
Ledbury Swifts - 7 (Crichard 8, Rooke 18 37 39, Preece 28, Jones 34, Brown 40)
Bromyard Town - 0

With no league programme this weekend, both teams were looking for match practice, especially with Ledbury having secured a play-off place. The game started brightly despite the driving rain, with both sides pushing forward and looking for goal. Ledbury took the lead after eight minutes with Joe Crichard picking up the ball on the edge of a crowded Bromyard box, and threading it into the corner of the net. Moments later, David Nash had a good shot saved, and from the goal kick, Bromyard countered with a run up the centre which left the Swifts defence standing and only the keeper to beat. The shot on goal was good, but Patrick Merryman stood his ground and parried it away for a corner. Despite the warning, Swifts stuck to their task and with two minutes of the first half left, Crichard crossed the ball to Matthew Rooke, who scored from a very tight angle to make it 2-0 at half time. Bromyard came out fighting after the interval, but were caught early on the counter-attack by David Preece who picked up the ball in his own half, made an excellent run down the right wing and chipped the ball calmly over the Bromyard keeper for a fine individual goal. Minutes later Ryan Jones made it four with a good turn and shot from a tight angle on the edge of the box, and shortly after Rooke chipped the keeper for the fifth. Bromyard still refused to give up on a consolation goal, and another good run from the kick-off saw them one-on-one with the keeper, only to see Merryman charge down the shot. Ledbury recovered immediately, and after a smooth passing move from Ben Brown, Jones played Rooke on for his hat-trick. In the dying moments, the home side won a free kick on the edge of the box, and the keeper could only get his fingertips to Brown's shot as it went into the roof of the net to make it 7-0 to the Swifts.


08-11-03: Friendly Match
Ledbury Swifts Under 8s - 0
Ledbury Swifts Under 9s - 4 (Bullock 9, Nash 29, Preece 32, Rooke 40)

After the disappointment of their Cup exit last weekend, this fixture gave the Under 9s a chance to re-group and regain their confidence, while the Under 8s got some important practice under real match conditions ahead of their League and Cup campaign next season. Encouragingly for the Under 8s, the game was nowhere near as one-sided as the scoreline suggests, and their defence ensured the Under 9s had to work hard for their goals, while the Under 9s defence did not have it all their own way, with some good runs and passing play testing them well, although in the final analysis, the Under 8s will be disappointed to have had only had one real attempt on goal. For the Under 9s, both Thomas Bullock and Matthew Rooke re-gained their goal-scoring success, after neither had scored recently. The highlights of the match though were from two players making their debut on the scoresheet - David Nash's long-range goal, which was well-struck from some way outside the box, and David Preece's hard work and tenacity in midfield which eventually got its reward with his goal in the last quarter of the match.