BOSS Dave Cooper was left beaming as AFC Ludlow turned on the style to sweep to a 3-0 win over in-form West Midlands (Regional) League Division One visitors Penncroft.

Jamie Edwards, Nathan Hodge and Jamie Smith shared the goals in a power-packed display and Cooper hailed the victory as “a quality team performance.”

Ludlow, who were due to meet Shenstone Pathfinders in the quarter-finals of the Division One Cup at the Showtime Security Stadium last night (Wednesday), produced some sparkling football in their final home league game of the season.

Penncroft had plundered 22 goals in their previous six matches, one of which was a shock 4-3 cup victory at Division One title favourites Bromyard Town, but the Wolverhampton-based side were brought back down to earth with a bang.

They hardly tested Ian Havard in the home goal, and had already survived a couple of scares before Edwards opened the scoring midway through the first half.

The visiting keeper could only parry a cross from the troublesome Hodge and Edwards side-footed home.

Edwards ran the show in the opening 45 minutes, and with Gavin Podmore a tower of strength at the back, Ludlow added a second before the break. Edwards picked out Hodge and he dodged his marker to fire home.

Ludlow started the second half sluggishly but were soon back in the ascendancy, and they should have had a penalty when George Sankey’s shot was blatantly handled. But a third goal wasn’t long in coming with Smith’s strike putting Ludlow out of sight.

A delighted Cooper said: “We lost Luke Hicks when he aggravated a knee injury in the warm-up so we had to rejig things.

"We played 4-5-1 with Nathan Hodge up front on his own and it worked a treat.

“It was a great display against a side who have been scoring goals for fun. To keep a clean sheet was a real bonus.”

Ludlow have two more away games left, at Worcester Raiders (Saturday, April 18) and Bustleholme (Wednesday, April 22).lukj