Manager Chris Richards has challenged his Ludlow Town side to do their talking on the pitch as they bid to avoid the prospect of their West Midland League premier division campaign petering out.
The SBS Stadium side slipped below mid-table following last Saturday’s off-colour 1-0 home reverse against Dudley Town, a disappointing result following some improved performances of late. And Richards, whose side visit lowly Ledbury Town tomorrow, was concerned that his charges struggled to raise themselves for a game that they were more than capable of winning.
“If we had played anything like we know we can, we could have come away with all three points but we never got out of first gear,” he admitted.
“It was disappointing, particularly after doing so well in the last five or six games, but the lads just couldn’t seem to get up for the game for some reason or another.
“They talked about it after the game in the dressing room, but it’s no good talking about it afterwards, they need to do it when they’re on the pitch and that’s what we’ll be addressing this week.”
He added: “I don’t know why we couldn’t get going, the players wait all week for a game and you would have thought they wanted to give it their best shot over the 90 minutes on a Saturday. But it was one of those days when it just didn’t happen for us.
“Dudley are third in the table, but they looked average and it was certainly a game we could have won had we performed anything like we have done in the last month.
“But we seemed to go through the motions, and once Dudley went 1-0 up we never seemed to have enough on the field to suggest we could get back into the game. It was just one of those days.
“It’s frustrating as we’ve played well against the top sides and were looking to keep our run going. The lads have shown they can do it, but it’s not good enough just to produce it in local derbies, they’ve got to do it in other games.”
Ludlow now have eight games remaining and Richards will be looking to get a decent haul of points under his belt in the coming weeks to set the scene for next season.
“I don’t think we’ll slip down the table any more, but the challenge is for the players to move up three or four more places in the league in the remainder of the season which they’re more than capable of doing.”
It was a struggle throughout for Ludlow last week as they rarely got out of first gear against a side who themselves hardly looked menacing.
The hosts had the better of the first half, but were unable to capitalise on a couple of half chances that fell to Andy Pugh and Marcus Sharrad.
The second period followed a similar pattern, but Ludlow struggled to string together any real incisive moves of note as the points slipped through their grasp.
Dan Tolley had a golden opportunity to break the deadlock early in the second period, but was denied by a good save from the visiting keeper from six yards out.
And it was Dudley who bagged the game’s only goal 15 minutes from time, a scrambled effort following a corner – a lead which they held with relative comfort to the final whistle.
Richards will now be looking for a swift riposte and far greater urgency from his troops in tomorrow’s trip to third bottom Ledbury Town as they look to get back on track.
The south Shropshire side have been boosted by the return to the club of versatile defender Lucas Bladen.
Shaun Parker also returns tomorrow after missing the Dudley game through suspension.