Swindon Town defeated Hereford United 3-0 at the County Ground today on a sunny spring afternoon. The hosts went into the interval with a slender lead when Simon Cox headed in from close-range before they doubled their advantage with Cox profiting from a dubious refereeing decision. Billy Paynter added a third for Swindon with Hereford looking as good as down in front of 7129 fans.
After the comfortable defeat in mid-week at Scunthorpe, just one change was made to the starting line up with Sam Hewson coming into replace Stephen O'Leary, who is injured once again. Jack MacLeod started once again whilst the visitors named Reading loanee Hal Robson-Kanu in their line-up; the winger played against Hereford when on loan for Southend in September whilst two other loanees, Gordon Greer and Owain Tudur Jones both were handed starts by manager Danny Wilson.
Both sides made encouraging starts with early corners at either end but it was the hosts that started creating chances. Robson-Kanu cut in from the right hand side but fired over with his left foot whilst his pin-point switch to Paynter was bought down by the meaty striker before a placed effort was stopped by Peter Gulacsi. A good passing move from the Robins down the right saw Anthony McNamee use his speed to go past Richard Rose before a powerful shot was caught by Gulacsi; a quick break was on but MacLeod's mis-placed pass allowed Paynter a shot from a similar position to his first but this time he couldn't hit the target. Cox should have opened the scoring when he found himself un-marked in the box but his volley from a deft Robson-Kanu cross went wide but it didn't matter as soon after, he grabbed his opening strike.
It followed a sub due to an injury to Jamie Vincent with Jack Smith replacing him at left-back. The goal came from a short corner which caught the defence cold and a cross from McNamee was met by Cox who directed his header past Gulacsi from six yards.The hosts continued to press with Kevin Amankwaah volleying over after a corner wasn't fully cleared whilst superb link-up between the front pairing of Cox and Paynter saw the latter breeze past Dean Beckwith before forcing a smart block from Gulacsi with a powerful 20 yard right foot effort from a central position. The Bulls finally created a chance towards the end of the half when MacLeod's low pass from the right-wing was touched towards Guinan by Febian Brandy but the veteran striker's left-foot shot was dragged just past the near post. Gulacsi was on hand to stop a powerful low effort from Robson-Kanu after a deft touch from Cox had set him free whilst Brandy's fierce cross from the right-wing went between the 'keeper and defence but there was no-one there to get the all important touch.
Hereford needed a good start to the second-half if they were to stand any chance of getting back into the game and this hope was quickly diminished by Cox's second. A header clear was sent back into the danger area by Greer's bouncing half-volley and it was touched in by Cox, who amongst a number of other players looked offside, past Gulacsi. Strong arguments weren't heard by referee Stuart Atwell and Swindon went two up. United did make a strong response to the second goal with Hewson forcing a good save from 'keeper Phil Smith with a free-kick. From the Macleod corner that followed, Darren Dennehy stretched to win a header and saw his effort his the outside of the post. Swindon took control after this momentary lapse with Cox forcing a close-range save from Gulacsi after controlling a cross from the left; the follow-up was put in by Robson-Kanu but was ruled offside, much to the delight of the away support.
Former Reading striker Cox looked the part up front causing problems throughout with intelligent running and he sliced past the post after cutting in from the left whilst Robson-Kanu nearly added a superb third after he controlled a pass on the right, beat Rose with a couple of step-overs and curled a left foot shot against the post. A short free-kick in the middle of the park allowed J. Smith to find Paynter in the box whose shot was well parried by Gulacsi. Ben Smith replaced Hewson as Hereford looked for a little more threat in the attacking third whilst Lilian Nalis came on for Tudur Jones.
Despite the sub, the game was put beyond doubt when Paynter struck. Cox made a burst through the centre and fed Robson-Kanu, who easily got past Richard Jackson on the by-line before cutting back for Paynter who touched in from close-range. Simon Johnson replaced MacLeod late on and his through ball released Brandy but the little striker's low-shot was easily held by former Crawley 'keeper P. Smith. Mark Marshall came on for McNamee towards the end of the match with either side having late opportunities. Robson-Kanu struck powerfully over from the right hand side whilst at the other end, a pass down the line by Rose was touched down by Guinan for Brandy who flashed a shot into the side netting from 25 yards.
It's been a bad week for Hereford playing against teams beginning with 'S'. No goals scored, coupled with seven goals conceded equals no points and The Bulls are staring relegation in the face. They lacked passion today and more ultimately were lacking in quality which has been United's downfall throughout the season. Hereford used to be a team renowned for playing it on the floor but the majority of the play comes in the air where Guinan and Brandy are largely ineffective. In comparison, Swindon, amongst most other teams in the league can play both on the ground or in the air and do both well. Next up for Hereford is the daunting trip to Carlisle on Tuesday night; a win in that game may ignite the littlest of hope that they can pull themselves clear but it's very unlikely.
Hereford: Gulacsi, Jackson, Beckwith, Dennehy, Rose, MacLeod, Diagouraga, Hewson, Done, Brandy, Guinan.
Subs: Veiga, Broadhurst, Gwynne, Smith, Johnson.
Swindon: P. Smith, Amankwaah, Morrison, Greer, Vincent, Robson-Kanu, Timlin, Tudur Jones, McNamee, Paynter, Cox.
Subs: Brezovan, J. Smith, Nalis, Marshall, Sturrock.