A Rod McDonald header levelled the scores after Ross Hannah
had converted from the spot as an energetic Bulls team grafted out a well
deserved draw at Blundell Park.
The Bulls who were unchanged from Saturday’s starting XI at
Braintree were first on the attack but Kingsley James looping cross was
gathered by home keeper McKeown. Danny
Leadbitter chased a long ball and McKeown had to be quick off his line to clear
into Row Z. A similar chase by Chris
Sharp produced another hasty heave that almost cleared the Main Stand.
Apart from a couple of darting runs by Hannah, the hosts
hadn’t posed much of a threat until Lenell John-Lewis cleverly got in front of
Dom Collins to draw the contact and went down to win a penalty which Hannah
dispatched past Danny Lloyd-Weston to give The Mariners the lead on 16 minutes.
The Bulls were straight back on the offensive with
Leadbitter bursting forward from the right only for him to be halted by a
naughty challenge from Craig Disley that saw the former Bristol Rovers player
go straight through the ball into Leadbitter.
The free kick was awarded but Leads was forced to leave the field. The lack of a yellow card for Disley was
compensated for as United grabbed an equaliser from the restart.
Artus clipped a delightful ball to the back post and Rod
McDonald rose to send a header firmly into the net.
Leadbitter was unable to continue and was replaced by Jon
Brown in a right sided swap. The goal
seemed to energise Martin Foyle’s men and good pressure high up the pitch by
Walker and Sharp kept the hosts pined back in their own half for good periods
while Frankie Artus saw a fine effort whistle just past the upright. Bushy launched a couple of trademark throws
into the box and The Edge saw an effort go wide.
Hannah brought a save from DLW as the half closed with the
scores level.
HT Grimsby 1 Bulls 1
An early second period dash by Jon Brown provided a chance
for Artus but his shot was, again, narrowly wide of the target. McDonald was forced to concede a free kick
when Bushy sliced a clearance and duly collected a caution from the referee as
The Bulls were put under increasing pressure by the home team.
Kinsley James and The Edge got through a mountain of work in
front of a back four that were in no mood to concede again and when the
Mariners’ wide-men did manage to get in a cross DLW was always quick to react
to snuff out the danger.
Grimsby manager, Paul Hurst tried to freshen his attack by
throwing on a couple of lofty lumps in Jennings and Cook but all that produced
was a couple of headers that sailed high over the crossbar.
At the other end, Dan Walker forced a save from McKeown
before Sam Smith replaced Sharpie to give a pleasingly bright and effective
contribution for the final 12/13 minutes.
A couple of nice touches and some decent hold-up play helped run down
the clock before Jon Brown produced the cross of the game only to see a late
block deny Smith a chance to steal all three points.
The attendance of 3007 included 24 in black and white packed
like sardines in the specious visitors enclosure.
FT Grimsby 1 Bulls 1
Hereford: Lloyd-Weston, Collins,
Graham, McDonald, Bush, Leadbitter (Brown 24), James, Edge, Artus, Walker,
Sharp (Smith 80). Subs unused: Purdie, Murphy, Williams.
Grimsby: McKeown, Bignot, Thomas, Pearson, Boyce, Kerr, Thanoj, Disley (Neilson 63), Rodman, John-Lewis (Cook 81), Hannah (Jennings 73). Subs unused: Hatton, McLaughlin.
This was a very encouraging effort by United whose overall
play lacked only a winning goal.
Despite the hosts having the lions share of possession, and probably
over a dozen efforts at goal the solid defence and second line of four restricted
the on-target shot to just a few.
More of the same on Saturday please.
