Ledbury 3

Studley 1

THE Bees were looking to equal if not better their FA Vase dream of last year but had their hopes halted by lower league opposition on Saturday.

Studley who had been given a bye into round two of the competition after last season's heroics were rolled over by a brace from Rob Colwell.

A bizarre referee ruling with just four minutes on the watch saw a free kick given just outside the Studley penalty area and from the resulting dead ball Ledbury centre back Steve Olczak somehow managed to get his scrappy ball over the line.

But from then on in the first period it was all Studley. Jamie Bailey brought the ball down with a great touch on ten minutes and laid off to skipper Mark Neath but the captai's shot went straight down the throat of Ledbury keeper Adam Penny.

Just after the 20-minute mark and Adam Blake avoided the offside trap only to take a second too long on his shot and the ball cleared.

After the break striker Kevin Jones replaced Jamie Bailey as Studley's only attacker and his introduction made an immediate impact on the game as a minute later Anthony Savery headed home a deserved equaliser.

But the Bees joy only lasted two minutes as Colwell got the first of his double after a corner.

And Colwell made sure of the victory in injury time as he picked his way through the Studley rearguard before balsting home.

Bees boss Kevin Rowlands said after the game: "I think we lost the game in the first half with all the openings we had and didn't put any away.

"They started off very nervously but we just didn't perform."

The Bees boss changed his system to a 4-5-1 after expecting a vocal onslaught from the Ledbury faithful to spur their side on.

"In theory if the lads in the centre of the park had worked hard the plan would have come off," said Rowlands. "But it took us too long to score and we should never have been a goal down in the first place," he added.