Cradley Town 0 Ludlow Town 1

LUDLOW bounced back from the 5-0 home drubbing by Grosvenor Park to bag their second Midland Alliance away win with a fine mid-week team performance at Cradley Town, writes Glyn Wictcome.

Town attacked from the off and Gareth Horler almost gave them a fifth minute lead when Darren Leonard headed down a Tim Jackson cross for Horler's crisp shot to bring a good save from the home keeper Tim Beech.

Debutant defender Adrian Marsh settled in well and provided a real threat when going forward for set pieces as Town continued to press.Their persistence was rewarded when Leonard provided an inch-perfect through ball for Horler to race clear and slot the ball past Beech for what proved to be the decisive goal.

Ludlow's goalkeeper Martin Poole was called into action and was a little fortunate not to concede a penalty when he brought down Joe Ghananfar as they both went for the ball.

Solid

Ludlow looked far more solid at the back than in previous matches and they thoroughly deserved their interval lead, which could have been trebled if Oliver Williams' powerful drive had not flown inches wide and Horler's shot not been cleared off the line.

Town had more than their share of play after the break with Rob Bruce going close after a surging run from mid-field.

Solid defence from Ludlow and a timely interception from skipper Steve Moore kept Cradley out with Ludlow collecting a very welcome three points.