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| George Munday celebrates his second |
The Greater Manchester side have struggled since the departure of joint manager Anthony Johnson in February, with their play-off hopes disintegrating after picking up only two points in their last 12 matches.
For Hereford, they went into the afternoon knowing they had to win to keep any hopes of survival alive - and with other results going their way, two wins in their final two games of the season will now be enough to avoid the drop.
A George Munday brace either side of a Harry Tustin strike saw them surge to a three-goal lead, but with the last kick of the first half, Rio Clegg took advantage of an Aaron Skinner error to reduce the deficit.
Hereford remained resolute into the second half though, and despite the encounter becoming fiery in the dying stages with Rick Smith shown a straight red for a reckless challenge on substitute Joseph James, put on a professional display and saw the game out.
With two changes to the side that lost against Oxford City midweek, Matt Preston returned to defence after recovering from a knock to replace James, while D’Ath came in for Harrison Sohna who is due to be suspended after Saturday’s match for his sending off on Tuesday.
After warming up in front of the demolished Blackfriars End for the third match in a row, the Bulls once again favoured attacking the Meadow End in the first half - but the first chance of the game came from Radcliffe. With just three minutes on the clock, Theo Richardson was content to watch an ambitious looping effort from Clegg over the bar after Michael Afuye flicked the ball into his path.
But the Bulls were soon on the ascendancy as they pushed forward, a Kyle Howkins effort going wide from Lawson D’Ath’s free kick and a wicked cross from Cormac Daly after a surging run down the right just evading the lurking Munday, though Radcliffe should have done better when Danny Greenfield fired a free-kick from 25-yards straight into the Hereford wall, with captain Lewis Hudson booked for the soft foul.
On 22 minutes, Munday scored a fine goal when he was teed up in the box, spinning to lose his marker and unleashing a shot in to the top right-hand corner of Mark Halstead’s net. Just two minutes later, Tustin made it two - after Mikey Lane had gone down in the box claiming a penalty, the Cheltenham youngster reacted quickly to stab the ball home.
As Hereford remained the better of the two sides, Daly continued to cause problems down the left flank as Aaron Downes’s side appeared to grow in confidence with D’Ath and Munday also looking threatening. After Tustin crossed the ball in to Lane, he saw his shot blocked, Radcliffe looked to hit back. It was Afuye who hit Hereford with a counterattack after winning possession from Tustin, but his effort was too high to trouble Richardson.
Munday netted his second of the afternoon before the break, putting in good work down the right wing to get onto the end of D’Ath’s ball. He cut into the box, threaded the ball towards goal, which deceived Halstead at his near post.
Though into the four minutes added on, the Boro went close with a point-blank header from Lois Maynard being tipped over by Richardson, before the Hereford stopper denied Brad Roscoe from the resulting corner. Despite the strong saves, in the fifth minute of stoppage time, Richardson was powerless to stop Clegg’s effort after Skinner mis-timed his header from a Tyler James throw, allowing striker through on goal to slot home.
Half time: Hereford 3 - Radcliffe 1
After the restart, the first 10 minutes were crucial as if Hereford conceded, it would have let Radcliffe right back into the game. However, despite an early effort from Maynard sailing well over the target, they kept the visitors at bay - and at the other end, Munday force a save out of Halstead with a low shot after Lane battled his way forward, and the keeper plucking a good cross from Daly out the air after he beat his man.
While Radcliffe put pressure on Hereford with a series of corners, Lane and Howkins being booked, and Smith turning a corner towards goal for Richardson to save, the Bulls escaped the first half of the half relatively unscathed. The Bulls kept pushing, with Tustin trying his luck, Munday flashed an effort inches wide of the upright, and D’Ath having an effort fly over the bar, before the game started to settle.
But after the 80th minute, Richardson was booked for time-wasting despite protests that Radcliffe weren’t 10-yards back from a free-kick before Maynard and Clegg were booked for the visitors. With tempers flaring, Preston and his man were both booked after a clash, before seven minutes into stoppage time, Smith went in late on substitute James and was shown a straight red - but Hereford had done enough to claim the vital three points.
Full time: Hereford 3 - Radcliffe 1
Attendance: 2823 (42 away)
Sponsors' man of the match: George Munday
While not the best game of football Hereford fans will ever see, Downes’s side recovered from their disappointing defeat midweek and revived their survival hopes and tried to play football against a side who tried to play the referee. A win is what mattered. Same again Tuesday, please.
Hereford: Richardson, Skinner, Hudson, Preston, D'Ath, Lane (Williams 62’), Munday, Daly, Willcox, Tustin (James 90+3’), Howkins
Subs: Sohna, Quansah, Martin, Lewis, Hamilton
Radcliffe: Halstead, McFadzean, Smith, Maynard, Hulme (Taylor 73’) Afuye, Roscoe, James, (Oyibo 73’) Clegg, Greenfield, Sesay (Ball 73’)
Subs: Hewelt, Halford, Partington
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