LUDLOW brought down the curtain on their West Midlands Premier season with a 3-1 defeat at high-flying Bloxwich.

Despite the setback, Ludlow performed well in a competitive final outing of the campaign but simply found their hosts too strong.

A rapid counter-attack led to Bloxwich’s opener within five minutes, although Ludlow spent much of the first half on the front foot and handled defending a series of penalty corners with a calm approach.

The home side gained a decisive break before the interval when a telling deflection led to the second but in a nip-and-tuck second half, Ludlow still carried the fight.

Again, it was pace on the break that hurt the visitors as Bloxwich made sure of the points and top spot in the table ahead of the final weekend by netting on the rebound with 15 minutes to go.

Undeterred, Ludlow kept probing and were rewarded with a consolation goal from Lawrence Richards during the dying embers. They sit sixth out of 11 with the other teams still to play one round of fixtures.

Back at headquarters, Ludlow Fathom fared better as goals from Patrick McBride, Oscar Austin and Matt Jones sealed a 3-2 success over their Cannock counterparts.