Hereford United took all three points at the McCain Stadium this afternoon following a scrappy encounter with Scarborough, who are struggling in the lower reaches of the table. Both teams went into the game off the back of draws but Hereford's league position made them obvious favourites.
United made two changes to the side; Darryl Taylor, spending his second loan spell in two seasons with United, was in the side at the expense of Andy Williams and Danny Carey-Bertram started alongside Adam Stansfield, as Guy Ipoua was missing through injury.
Brian Wake headed towards goal but caused Wayne Brown no problems early on before Neil Bishop fired inches wide from twenty yards. At the other end Alex Jeannin hit a free kick straight down the the middle of the goal before Stansfield netted the first and only goal of the game. Craig Stanley hooked a ball over the top of the defence from inside of his own half and Stansfield raced ahead of his marker and poked the ball beyond the reach of Leigh Walker and into the back of the net, with eleven minutes gone.
The Seadogs replied, forcing Brown into an excellent save, as he tipped a header of Tony Hackworth just around the post while, at the other end, Tamika Mkandawire looped a header onto the top of the crossbar. Wake, ever dangerous for the hosts, broke through the Hereford rear-guard, but over-hit a ball just to his left where Bishop awaited, when he was in a good scoring position himself, and the ball ran out for a goal kick. In injury time, Boro almost got the equaliser they were searching for, but Sean McClare volleyed inches wide from just inside the area.
Wake continued to look Scarborough's most likely scorer, and shot just wide of the far post from long range after the restart, in what was, again, a poor half for both sides. Wake was subbed off after sixty four minutes, which was probably a relief to United's defence. Five minutes later Williams was introduced in place of Carey-Bertram as both sides struggled to create opportunities. Michael Coulson, Wake's replacement, forced the first save of the half from Brown having twisted and turned on the edge of the box before firing in low.
Rob Purdie, who was not enjoying his best of games, played a neat ball down the line for Williams, who skinned his opponent and won a corner, as his cross was nodded behind at the near post. Mkandawire, who had already came close due to his aerial threat, met the corner with a glancing header, which fell just inches wide of the far post. Ryan Green was given the final quarter of an hour to impress, as he took Simon Travis' place at right back, but despite the fresh legs in defence, Boro began piling on the pressure.
United's back line was standing strong though, but Coulson almost found an equaliser when he collected a head down in the box, after it was lofted in from a free kick, but fired wide from a central position. Graham Turner introduced Graham Evans late on and he did manage to get the ball into the back of the net, but it was disallowed by the referee.
The victory, which despite the rather poor performance is what matters at the end of the day, means that The Bulls move up to fifth in the league, into the play off positions. United once again lacked an attacking threat throughout, although man of the match Stansfield put full effort in, yet again, and Taylor did well on the right. However he did look out of match practice which was noticable as he failed, on more than one occasion, to deliver a good cross having made himself plenty of space.
Around 100 Hereford supporters travelled to Scarborough in a crowd of 1,582, although it looked at least a couple of hundred less!
HUFC: Brown, Travis, Beckwith, Mkandawire, Jeannin, Purdie, Stanley, Pitman, Taylor, Carey-Bertram, Stansfield. Subs: Green, Mawson, Gwynne, Williams, Evans.
SFC: Walker, Ingram, Baker, Atkinson, Lyth, Bishop, Hughes, McClare, Nicholson, Hackworth, Wake. Subs: Dunbavin, Quayle, Foot,Coulson, Weaver.