A late Theo Robinson goal gave all three points to a rather fortunate United side in this afternoon's League Two encounter at Gigg Lane. A first half that produced about as much entertainment as strawberry picking in January was followed by much of the same until Graham Turner shuffled his pack twenty minutes from the end. Whilst both sides managed periods of tidy possession football, there was little to warm the shivering fans. Bury probably shaded the game in terms of chances but there will be few beetroot coloured faces in The Bulls dressing room after the game. Goals win games and Hereford got the only one of the match.
Turner kept faith with his selection from the previous match but refreshed the bench with the returning Clint Easton and Luke Webb. The defences generally snuffed out the early exchanges and it was fully half an hour before the industrious Nicky Adams delivered a cross which Bishop headed over without troubling Wayne Brown. Shortly after, neat play by Guinan enabled Diagouraga to test the Bury keeper with a crisp twenty yarder. On the stroke of half time, Bishop was just inches wide with his effort following another Adams cross. Hurst and Bishop were proving a handful but were kept at bay by good defensive work by McCombe and Beckwith while Brown coped competently with whatever came his way.
The half time break saw Bulls fans scurrying for hot drinks and hoping that The Gaffer could instil a few words of wisdom during the interval. Steve Guinan tested Provett with a decent shot and then found himself wide on the left from where he worked himself some space and crossed a fine ball which was hacked clear by Futcher. Hurst was extremely lucky to stay on the pitch on fifty-seven minutes when he launched himself into Trent McClenahan. As the Australian defender advanced into the Bury half Hurst dangerously took him out with a two- footed tackle missing the ball by a good yard. With both feet off the ground, he was very fortunate to get away with the yellow card brandished by referee Jon Moss. Paul Scott blocked a rare effort by the quiet Simon Johnson before a Bishop header brought a fine save from Wayne Brown. Then Sam Gwynne watched his header flash wide of the upright just before Turner made his substitution moves. Big Trevor Benjamin replaced Steve Guinan and Johnson made way for Easton. It wasn't long before the Easton effect was seen. His neat wing play immediately gave the Bulls the width and penetration that had been lacking and it was no surprise when he produced a peach of a cross which Benjamin met powerfully but the strikers header was narrowly wide largely due to a hefty shove in the back which, apparently, went unnoticed by the officials. Luke Webb replaced Gwynne late on and with the game looking like ending in a draw; it was going to need something special to force a result. It came in the last minute of normal time when the prompting of Smith and Easton resulted in the ball arriving at the feet of Robinson from a pass by Lee Collins. Robinson appeared to have delayed but then dragged the ball back, spun and fired into the far corner from just over 15 yards to give all three points to the travelling Bulls and send the 200 odd visiting fans home happy.
Final Score Bury 0 Hereford United 1
Bury: - Provett, Scott, Morgan, Futcher, Haslam, Adams, Parrish, Buchanan, Woodthorpe, Hurst, Bishop. Subs, Baker, Barry-Murphy, Mangan, Hughes McAllister.
HUFC: - Brown, Collins, Beckwith, McCombe, McClenahan, Johnson, Smith, Diagouraga, Gwynne, Guinan, Robinson. Subs, Ingham, Taylor, Easton, Benjamin, Webb.
Att. 2099.
Text at top (next game etc)
Next Game: Scarborough In The League At Edgar Street On Tuesday 19th November At 7.45pm