Hereford United somehow managed to win 1-0 at Mansfield Town this evening courtesy of an early Clint Easton free-kick. The first half was shadowed by United, but Mansfield came out in the second half with attacking intent and dominated. In the final moments, a soft penalty was awarded to the hosts but Wayne Brown denied Mickey Boulding from the spot as The Bulls held on.
One change was made to the team that beat Accrington with Sherjill Macdonald returning to West Brom after his loan spell; Theo Robinson replaced him up front. Mansfield started top goalscorer M. Boulding up front, with Nathan Arnold playing just behind him. Former Conference journeyman Jefferson Louis had to settle for a place on the bench.
The home side made a decent start, and Will Atkinson, on loan from Hull City, struck a shot into the body of Brown after a Matthew Hamshaw corner. However, it was Hereford who grabbed the early and ultimately decisive goal thanks to Easton. He won the free-kick after a late boot, and he stepped up from 20 yards to curl the ball around the wall and into the near corner past Carl Muggleton. The Stags responded quickly with Hamshaw forcing a flying save from Brown after running through the middle, and shooting from 20 yards. Moments later, Arnold’s long-range half-volley forced an equally impressive save from Brown, as he leaped in the air to tip it over. Stephen Dawson tried his luck from long-range, but again Brown held on.
The Bulls managed to find some room in midfield, and played some nice flowing football, with Toumani Diagouraga firing past the post with a left foot strike. Robinson, whose enthusiasm failed to match his final product, saw a weak shot be easily held by the ‘keeper. At the other end, Hamshaw’s strike from far out was poor, before Robinson should have doubled the advantage. Gary Hooper worked hard down the right hand side to create an opening, and crossed across goal to Robinson, who controlled and steadied himself but managed to drag his shot past the post. Mansfield then bought off Muggleton, due to injury, and replaced him with back-up goalie Jason White. His first duty was to deal with an Easton free-kick, but the wide man failed to reproduce his earlier strike as he shot over. The final chances of the first-half fell to Mansfield defender Alex Baptiste, but neither of his two headers from corners troubled Brown.
The second half didn’t match the first-half; to put it frankly, Hereford were awful. M. Boulding ran on to a through ball, and got goal-side of the defence before having his heels clipped by Dean Beckwith. A free-kick was awarded, and fans feared a red would be shown, but the referee opted for a yellow. The resulting free-kick was struck by Gareth Jelleyman, but hit the wall. A few minutes later, a corner was nodded on by Jake Buxton and John Mullins headed onto the roof of the net. A shot from a tight-angle from Arnold was again saved by Brown, whilst M. Boulding again troubled Beckwith, and beat him but a shot across goal was harmless. A good ball over the top was superbly controlled by Arnold, but his shot was wide.
United’s one and only chance of the second half fell to Robinson, as he turned in the box, but his cross-goal shot went wide. Kris Taylor then came on for Robinson, as United looked happy to sit on the lead. Rory Boulding took to the field, with D’Laryea making way, whilst Louis replaced Jelleyman as Mansfield increased their strength in the final third, and with Jelleyman taken off, M. Boulding took over the set-piece duty, but failed to trouble Brown. Trevor Benjamin replaced Simon Johnson late on, before the final five or so minutes created plenty of drama, with Brown at the centre of it.
Dawson shot from the left-hand side of the box and forced Brown into a fine low diving save; from the corner that followed, Louis’s side-foot shot fell wide. Louis then managed to cut-in from the right but shot weakly at Brown. The real drama came just a minute from the end of normal time, with Louis holding off a tackle, and chipping into the box. A Mansfield played controlled, and under the slightest of touches from Smith, went down. A penalty was harshly awarded, and M. Boulding stepped up. Brown, who hadn’t saved a penalty before in his Bull’s career, guessed the right way, and dived to his left and saved; the follow up was deflected out for a corner. Dawson shot wildly in stoppage time before the final incident in the game saw Brown make a fantastic save. A deep cross came in from the left-hand side, and Louis rose above Beckwith at the back post and headed goal wards. It looked certain to fall in, but Brown dived to his left once again and clawed the ball away; it looked close to crossing the line, but the linesman didn’t give it. The ball was cleared, and the referee then blew up, to the relief of the away following.
The points are more than welcome, as Hereford continue their promotion aspirations, but it was a weak performance in front of a lowly 1606. Without Brown, United may well have fell to a defeat this evening, as he consistently kept out Mansfield’s chances with some superb shot-stopping. The Bull’s defence though looked solid, with Trent McClenahan and Beckwith in particular looking strong. Mansfield had a good midfield, and with the trickery of Hamshaw on the wing, they should have enough to beat the drop. Next up is two home games, with Wycombe the first visitors on Saturday.
Hereford: Brown, McClenahan, McCombe, Beckwith, Rose, Johnson, Diagouraga, Smith, Easton, Hooper, Robinson.
Subs: Ingham, Threlfall, Taylor, Gleeson, Benjamin.
Mansfield: Muggleton, Mullins, Buxton, Baptiste, Jelleyman, Hamshaw, D’Laryea, Dawson, Arnold, Atkinson, M.Boulding,
Subs: White, Martin, Wood, Louis, R. Boulding.