Ledbury Town took a major step towards winning the Herefordshire Football League Premier Division title with a narrow 1-0 away win at closest rivals Sporting Club Inkberrow. 

Ledbury knew they had to win in order to regain top spot and keep Inkberrow from taking control of the title race.

It was evidently a game between the league's best two sides and it took until the 67th minute for the breakthrough to be made as Ben Febery nodded home from Ben Miller's free-kick. 

The result kept Ledbury a single point ahead of Inkberrow ahead of the mid-week round of fixtures.

Ian Merrick's side edged past Worcester United 2-1 on Wednesday night to remain a point ahead, with Inkberrow also winning 3-1 at home to Coppertops.

There are now two games to go in the season and it looks set to go down to the final day.

Buoyed on by an impressive crowd of over eighty visiting supporters, many of whom had travelled on a specially-booked 52-seater coach for the occasion, Merrick’s high-flying Ledbury side had all the pressure on them with Inkberrow having nabbed the top spot of the table by two points via a 4-0 win against Ludlow Town Colts at home earlier in the week. 

It had been a cagey affair but both sides had the chances to win the game that was always going to prove so crucial in determining who will lift the league title. 

The moment of joy occurred for Town’s patient crowd of followers when Miller’s chipped free kick was nodded home by Febery to cries of euphoria, even if the opposition were quick to remind their visitors that things were far from over as keeper Alex Goode was forced to make two pivotal saves to retain his side’s newfound lead. 

But Ledbury held on for a huge victory and now they are just two wins from securing the league title and promotion into Step 6.