EXPERIENCE ultimately told in Saturday’s eight-goal derby thriller as Tenbury Town reaffirmed their Herefordshire Division One title credentials with a 5-3 win at Ludlow Colts.

In a match switched to Ludlow’s 3G surface due to bad weather, Tenbury survived an early flurry of pressure to move five points clear of Hereford City at the top.

After a rocky opening, Declan Bright cut inside and hit a post for Tenbury on 12 minutes but the opener was not far away as Adam Everall’s driven free-kick from 30 yards evaded everyone and flew past Colts keeper Kieron Roche.

Leading marksman Mark Boucker then doubled the advantage on 25 minutes by drilling a low shot into the bottom left corner.

Dan Crowther’s movement afforded Ashley Smith the space to fire in a shot that bounced back off the upright for Charlie Gould to net for Ludlow seven minutes before half-time but there was still time for the pendulum to swing again prior to the break.

Morgan Mackenzie fouled Alex Bright in the penalty area and Boucker made no mistake from the spot to restore Tenbury’s two-goal cushion.

Ludlow grabbed a quick lifeline two minutes after the restart when Town stand-in keeper Jack Moran dropped Crowther’s initial shot and the ricochet was fired in.

Roche hit the deck with an ankle injury and on 58 minutes there was a telling moment when he could only push Everall’s shot as far as Alex Bright who pounced to give Tenbury the platform for victory.

With 20 minutes to play, winger Toby Gittens made the points safe by cutting in from the right and unleashing a powerful left-footed shot into the bottom corner.

Ludlow refused to give in and Crowther’s persistence put him through with his shot diverted into his own net by retreating Tenbury substitute Simon Morris.

“Ludlow were good,” said Tenbury spokesperson Carl Lambert. “They got the ball down and played some nice stuff. To be honest they ran us ragged for the first 10 minutes.

“The first goal came slightly against the run of play and it knocked them a bit. We got a foothold in the game and while it was a good battle, we managed to keep our noses in front.

“It was a case of experience over youth. Most of their players are 17 or 18 and you can imagine them having a good side once they develop over the next couple of years because they’re not bad now.

“It did take us 10 or 15 minutes to get used to playing on the 3G pitch but in the end, we were the better side. At this stage of the season, we just need to take it one game at a time and hopefully avoid having any breaks.

“Missing games due to the weather sometimes knocks us out of our stride so we want to keep that momentum going.”

Defender Keiran Fish hobbled off with a hamstring injury at Ludlow with Town waiting to discover the extent of the problem ahead of Saturday’s trip to rock-bottom Orleton Colts Reserves (2.30pm).