Market Drayton fail to cash in on a weekend double-header

Drayton were faced with a double header with a trip to face Stone fifths up first on Saturday.

A bright start from Drayton saw captain Phil Riley slam the ball home for an early lead which was quickly followed by a strike from James Roscoe to make it 2-0.

But the home side then rallied and battled back to grab a draw and leave Drayton ruing the loss of two points.

There was no joy on Sunday when the Pirates hosted Finchfield.

Despite putting out their strongest team of the season with the luxury of four substitutes, Drayton failed to hit form and were edged out 3-2.

Jesse Thompstone and Dillon Weller were the men on the mark for Drayton.

The first team travelled to tackle Barford Tigers seconds and despite a battling performance they crashed to an 8-0 defeat.

Ludlow ladies picked up a battling point from their double header weekend which ensures they will avoid a bottom two finish in Midlands Division Five Moorland.

They travelled to Bloxwich thirds on Saturday with just 11 players and found themselves trailing early on when the hosts netted from a short corner. But they hit back to level when a short corner was worked out to Helen Baden, who fired home.

The visitors then benefitted from another short corner routine that ended with captain Julie Chamberlain firing them in front.

Unfortunately for Ludlow they couldn’t hold on to their lead as the hosts grabbed a draw courtesy of another goal from a short corner.

Ludlow were on their travels again on Sunday as they headed to Keele University, with stand-in keeper Chamberlain impressing.

Despite that, they fell to a 4-1 defeat with Katie Donaldson netting a consolation for the visitors.

Ludlow’s men saw a battling display go unrewarded as they went down 4-2 Lichfield. The first half saw Ludlow come from behind twice with goals from Luke Matthews and Sebastian Rees.

The visitors dominated the second half and and despite some determined Ludlow defending they scored twice to seal the points.