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Wrexham too strong for Bulls
A solid and well organised Wrexham side handed Hereford United their first pre-season defeat this afternoon at Edgar Street. First half goals from Danny Williams and ex-Spurs striker Chris Armstrong gave the Welsh side a 2-0 victory. Ryan Green again missed out with a hip problem and Tony James didn't feature for United. Danny Carey-Bertram made a surprise appearence late on.
Craig Stanley had a good chance to get Hereford off to a flyer, but after receiving a pass from Adam Stansfield his powerfully driven effort was tipped away by Andy Dibble. Stanley was first to rebound but hit a weak left footed volley wide. Wrexham took a twelth minute lead. Danny Williams, a summer signing from Kiderminster Harriers, unleashed a rocket of a shot from twenty-five yards that curled away from Ben Scott in the United goal and into the bottom corner. Wrexham had more chances once they took the lead, but the Hereford defence made sure that these were all from outside of the box, Hector Sam went closest when he forced Scott into a good save, tipping the ball around the post.
Wrexham kept possesion well and looked very solid at the back which made it difficult for Hereford when attacking. With almost half an hour gone, Rob Purdie was replaced by youngster Andrew Williams. David Brown then dropped back into the midfield where he proved to be more effective. Wrexham doubled their lead after thirty-four minutes. Fergurson chipped the ball into the area but the Hereford defence failed to deal with it. Armstrong then beat Scott to the bouncing ball on the edge of the area and lifted it over the keeper and into an empty net much to the delight of the 83 away fans.
Hereford failed to trouble Wrexham again in the first half, the nearest they came to an opportunity was when Danny Williams played a superb through ball to Stansfield who was marginally beaten to the ball by Dibble. Wrexham almost scored a third on the stroke of half time but a volley from twelve yards out went the wrong side of the post and rattled the side netting.
Wrexham made a number of half time subs including ex-Hereford stopper, Matt Baker. United's only half time change was Mark Robinson, who replaced Nathan Talbot who had a poor game by his previous showings. The second half was interupted by many subs which affected the pace of the game; in total thirty four players appeared today. Jamie Pitman was impressive when he replaced Stanley and Graham Hyde had a solid game when he replaced Danny Williams. Daniel March later came on for Simon Travis who looked to have taken a knock. Carey-Bertram replaced Stansfield and Sam Gwynne played the last five minutes in place of David Brown.
Stansfield almost got the Bulls back into the game following a long free kick but his half volley was denied by the upright with Baker beaten. Wrexham failed to create much in the way of goal scoring opportunites; a good showing by the Hereford defence made sure that the majority of Wrexham's chances were from outside of the box. Brown kept the score at 2-0 when he managed to head a difficult cross off the line.
Andrew Williams was once again very livley, he turned a defender and hit a low cross that flashed across the six yard box, but Stansfield couldn't quite reach it to turn it into the net. Williams was unlucky not to score himself when he struck a powerful volley after Pitman had chested the ball down for him but Baker dived to his right and caught the ball well. Williams saw another good effort go just wide of the far post after striking a low twenty-yard effort.
Carey-Bertram will have been dissapointed that he didn't get a penalty two minutes from the end. He was through on goal when Shaun Pejic challenged him from behind and bundled him over. It looked a cast iron penalty to everyone in the crowd of 1075, but not to Mr. P Jones, the man in charge.
In the end, Wrexham proved to be too strong for Hereford and the 2-0 result reflected this. They looked fitter, as they would be a week more advanced in their pre season training than Hereford, and stronger physically. Hereford were not at their best today, but will be looking to add some confidence to the side when they play WBA reserves on Wednesday evening and Wellington in the HFA County Cup next Saturday. The Bulls demolished WBA reserves 5-0 in a pre-season friendly last summer.
Team: Ben Scott, Simon Travis, Nathan Talbot, Tamika Mkandawire, Andy Tretton, Tom Smith, Danny Williams, Rob Purdie, Craig Stanley, David Brown, Adam Stansfield. Subs: Adam Ding, Jamie Pitman, Mark Robinson, Andrew Williams, Danny Carey-Bertram, Sam Gwynne, Daniel March, Graham Hyde.