ORELTON Colts boss Kristian Morgan is stepping down this summer – and wants to seal Herefordshire Premier League survival as his last act.

Colts stalwart Morgan will relinquish the reins at the end of the season, with the duo of Alan Hopcutt and Dane Pearce taking over.

Availability issues have seen Orleton embroiled in a relegation battle this season after finishing fourth last term but Morgan cites family commitments as the reason for stepping down.

After last weekend’s 3-1 home defeat to Hinton, Colts sat one place above the bottom two – but were four points above second-bottom Leominster and with a much better goal difference.

Morgan said: “I will sign on as a player in case we are ever really short but I am stepping away. My kids are getting older, they play sports at weekends and I want to spend more time with them.

“It’s been a tough season and if we’d had a bit more commitment we would be higher up the table.

“I’m not saying we would have won the league but we came fourth last year and, with everyone available, I think we could have improved on that.

“But the main aim now is to stay up and I think we will be all right, a couple more wins should do it.”

Orleton were once again depleted in last Saturday’s 3-1 defeat but put in a battling display, only for a late goal to seal victory for visitors Hinton.

Hinton led in the opening minute but Jabez Smith pulled Orleton level on ten minutes, only for a penalty on the stroke of half-time and a late third goal to hand the visitors the points.

Morgan said: “We put out a mix-and-match side and did okay. We were in the game at 2-1 until 80-odd minutes when they caught us on the break.

“If we had got a draw, we would have deserved it and I think if we had been able to put a stronger side out, we would have got a result.”

Morgan was hoping for a win at basement side Hereford Lads Reserves last night, with a tough test at home to come against third-placed Westfields Reserves this Saturday.

Elsewhere in the Premier Division, Tenbury United boosted their promotion push with a 5-2 home win over Ledbury Town but Tenbury Town lost 3-2 to Kington Town Reserves.

In Division One, Orleton Reserves lost 3-2 at basement side Fownhope but Ludlow Town Colts beat Wellington Colts 2-1 to complete a quickfire double.

Kieron Dovey missed a first-half penalty for Ludlow and Wellington went ahead after the break, only for a James Byatt header and a Dave Humphries free-kick to win it for the hosts.

Woofferon, meanwhile, suffered a severe setback to their promotion hopes as they were thrashed 6-0 at Ledbury Town Reserves.

Lack of game time, having not played for six weeks due to the weather, did not help and manager Malcolm Barnard said: “We thought this was going to be our year to go up but this defeat has knocked the stuffing out of that plan.”