Ludlow spoil the party

The hosts were taking the wraps off their new 4G all-weather pitch but saw their party ruined by a ruthless display from their visitors.

Ludlow ran in seven tries on their way to a 47-6 victory that extended their perfect start to the season and left them top of the early standings.

There were two tries each for flying winger Dan Ruell and full-back Joe Doyle and one for Will Hodnett at centre, while Joe’s brother Charlie, playing at number eight, and Harry Small notched scores for the back row.

This was another very complete performance by Ludlow. True, at times their line-out didn’t shine and early on there were a few knock-ons as the players adjusted to the pace of the synthetic pitch, but their defence was immense. All of Walsall’s points came from penalty kicks.

Walsall had no answer to Ludlow’s line speed and their backs seemed bewildered by the pace and variety of the visitors’ attack with wingers Ruell, who bagged the man of the match award, and Will Sparrow in a class of their own.

Ruell has demonstrated several times this season that he has a surprising amount of power while Sparrow, who has plenty of gas, has shown a greater awareness of try scoring opportunities around him.

Sparrow unselfishly gave inside passes for both Doyle brothers to score, and also notched all but one conversion as Ludlow took their points tally for the season to 144 with just 16 conceded.

The victory sets Ludlow up for Saturday’s showdown with a Camp Hill side who have also won their opening three fixtures.

While Ludlow are setting the pace at the top of the table, Telford Hornets are still searching for their first victory.

Hornets have endured a testing start to the season following their promotion and succumbed to a third straight league defeat at home to Spartans.

The visitors ran in six tries on their way to a comfortable 43-3 success with Telford’s points coming via a penalty from Blake Prince.