Ketley Bank United 1 Ludlow Town 4.

LUDLOW Town overcame a shaky start at Ketley on Saturday to pull six points clear at the top of the Sportsjamkits.com Shropshire County Premier League.

Trying to cope with an uneven playing surface, Town struggled to assert themselves in the tight and cagey opening exchanges and duly went a goal behind on 20 minutes.

The defence failed to deal properly with a ball over the top and Nick Giles managed to get two hands to a chip towards his goal but was unable to stop the ball crossing the line.

Gradually adapting to the conditions, Town countered their rather physical opponents with some direct attacking of their own and scored an equaliser on 31 minutes.

From a cross into the Ketley penalty area the home keeper only succeeded in punching the ball into the air and Jamie Hammond was on hand to lash home a left-footed volley.

"I told the players during the interval that the game was there for the taking if they wanted it enough," said Town boss Mike Seaborne.

And the team responded with a dominant second half performance.

On the hour striker Nathan Hodge, returning from a one-match suspension, latched on to a ball forward from left midfielder Andy Walker, outpaced the full-back and slotted home to give Town the lead.

Ten minutes later, the ball fell to Hodge eight yards out and he netted his second with a volley.

Centre-backs Dan Humphrys and Stuart Millichip dealt comfortably with sporadic attacking by Ketley and restricted them to just one shot on target throughout the half.

Aaron Hodge nearly extended the lead with a shot which struck the underside of the crossbar and appeared to cross the line, but with five minutes remaining Town scored again.

Chris Breakwell, back in his usual midfield role after deputising up front for Nathan Hodge the previous week and notching four goals, made it a comprehensive 4-1 scoreline with a shot from the edge of the area.

Bishop’s Castle 1 Clee Hill 2 CLEE Hill are still seeking their first win of the season after conceding a last-minute decider to Division 1 county rivals Bishop’s Castle.

In a generally scrappy game, Hill shaded control of possession in the first half and took the lead after a succession of corners.

Scott Jordan found the net through the Castle keeper’s fingers with his inswinging corner from the right side.

John Hudson deservedly levelled for Castle off the far post with 10 minutes left and then netted the winner as Hill were caught trying to usher the ball out for a goal kick.

l Woofferton are through to the third round of the Herefordshire Football Association Junior Cup after a 4-0 win against Shobdon.

It was not such a good day for Woofferton Colts who went down 4-1 at home to Pencombe in Division 3 of the Hereford Times Herefordshire Football League.