Ludlow finish season of progress with a swagger

The Linney men were in ruthless mood as they ran in 14 tries on their way to a resounding 88-3 Regional Two West Midlands victory at home to Evesham.

Winger Jack Davies led the rout, touching down five times, while Will Hodnett took his try tally for the season to 31 with a hat-trick.

Jim Alderson bagged a brace with Theo Hodnett, James Mear, Joe Doyle and AJ Rock adding the other tries. Jack Lines kicked nine conversions.

“It was one way traffic,” said head coach Mikey Jones. “It was good for the lads to score so many tries but from a coaching point of view you don’t get a lot out of a game like that. We have a way that we want to play and the players did that to be fair.

“They didn’t go solo and that’s why we scored so many tries.”

The victory saw Ludlow end the season with 17 wins from their 22 games and a third-placed finish.

They topped the standings for a lengthy period before a dip in form running up to Christmas checked their progress.

But since the turn of the year, Ludlow have hit top form again with nine wins in 10 games. Their only defeat was at the hands of champions Old Halesonians.

And Jones has been delighted with their progress.

“I am really happy with how things have gone this season,” he said. “We have finished higher than we did last season and we have blooded a lot of younger players, who have done really well and gained experience.

“The aim now is to continue that progress and try to finish higher again next season.”

Jones will look to bolster the squad in the off-season to increase cover and competition for places.

“From one to 18 we are very good,” said Jones. “But when we get a few injuries we struggle a bit, especially in the key positions.

“We will look to bring in three or four players to bolster us and build the squad up and we also need to make the second team stronger.

“We are not a money club but we work a lot on ensuring there is a good social side to the club and that the players enjoy their rugby.

“That seems to be working. We want players who want to play for the shirt.”