THE dream of ending the season at Villa Park is just 90 minutes away from becoming a mouthwatering reality for in-form AFC Ludlow.

Two late goals eased Ludlow into the semi-finals of the West Midlands (Regional) League Division One Cup with a 3-0 verdict over Shenstone Pathfinders in front of a bumper home crowd last Wednesday night.

Now only Bartestree stand between Dave Cooper’s side and a high-profile final on a Premier League stage. As part of the league’s 125th anniversary celebrations, the final is being staged at Aston Villa in May.

Ludlow have been almost unstoppable at the Showtime Security Stadium since Christmas, registering 20 goals in five home games, the only blip coming when they allowed a 3-0 lead to slip in a draw with Bartestree.

A delighted Cooper said: “We carried on from where we had left off the previous Saturday against Penncroft, dominating from the start and the fact we kept another clean sheet as well was a bonus.

“We wanted it from the first whistle and set a great tempo, and in truth we could and should have been out of sight by half-time. We just needed to be a little more clinical in the final third.

“But I can have no complaints, we were spot on in every department and it was a great performance.”

Keanu Cooper was Ludlow’s star man and he opened the scoring after 16 minutes. Skipper Jack Beaumont, who was playing at full-back, made a terrific run from inside his own half and Cooper, receiving the ball with his back to goal, cleverly dummied his marker to score with a slick left-foot drive.

The Ludlow midfield got on top to dictate matters and the home side could easily have added to their score before the break, with Jamie Edwards seeing two long-range efforts fly just off target.

As it was they went in at half-time with just one goal to show for their efforts, and Shenstone pegged them back in the early stages of the second period as they went in search of an equaliser.

But boss Cooper introduced substitutes George Sankey and Liam Taylor to good effect and after Keanu Cooper had been denied by a last-ditch tackle and Jamie Smith headed just wide from the resultant corner, Ludlow’s pressure finally paid off when they sank Shenstone with two goals in the last five minutes.

The Staffordshire side were reduced to ten men by a needless 82nd minute sending off and they conceded a second goal within three minutes. Kieran Dovey, whose clever feet caused the visitors all manner of problems, and Smith combined to feed Cooper, who cleverly found Nathan Hodge down the line. Hodge did the rest, outmuscling two markers to drive a fierce shot across the keeper into the bottom corner.

In the last minute Jason Mynett, another substitute, and Hodge then worked a short corner for the latter to set up Taylor to thump home goal number three into the roof of the net from eight yards out.

Ludlow were without a game last weekend but are back in action at lowly Worcester Raiders this Saturday. They travel south without influential midfielder Jake Pryce, who looks set to miss the rest of the season with a serious knee injury.