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Hereford United escaped with a point in a local derby match with Cheltenham Town this afternoon at Edgar Street. The visitors dominated the second-half, taking the lead through Elvis Hammond's powerful finish. Johnny Godsmark's second goal in as many games ensured the game ended 1-1 but a frenzy of late chances for the Robins weren't taken in front of 3280 supporters, including a ghostly 577 from Cheltenham.
After the encouraging Carling Cup victory over Charlton in mid-week, John Trewick made changes to the team. Marc Pugh failed to recover from his knock so Matty Done replaced him on left-wing. Darren Jones and Darren Dennehy were re-introduced in central defence whilst Leon Constantine started, meaning a change in formation to 4-4-2, with Glen Southam missing out. The visitors included a variation of experience and youth in their team with Barry Hayles leading the line at 37.
The opening stages lacked any real action and the first point of note was an injury to Michael Pook after a challenge from James McQuilklin; Drissa Diallo replaced him at right-back. Elvis Hammond fired over from the edge of the area after a quick turn whilst a series of blocked efforts in a similar position ended up in Hayles shooting into the Blackfriars End. A weak kick out by Adam Bartlett allowed Hammond the opportunity for a spectacular lob shot with the 'keeper out of position and his strike was on target but Bartlett managed to hold it. Hereford's first chance fell to Kenny Lunt, whose curling shot went into the back of the Meadow End after being set up by Lee Morris.
The Bulls' best chance of the first period fell to Morris after Dennehy had started the move with a switch of play to Godsmark. The Newcastle loanee took a touch before crossing superbly into the danger area where Morris rose but his header narrowly missed the upright. A bouncing half-volley after a set-piece from Dennehy was caught by Scott P Brown whilst at the other end, a flick-on by Hayles allowed Oliver Bozanic the chance to fire goalwards with a 25 yard half-volley bringing the best out of Bartlett, who dived to his right to divert it wide. From the resulting corner, Diallo's head-down bounced back up and over the bar. As stoppage time approached, a deep cross from the right by Diallo was met by Justin Richards but he failed to hit the target.
Cheltenham had by far the better of the first-half and the second-half saw them take complete control, in terms of possession and chances. They started it brightly with Hayles shifting the ball aside to set himself up but his curled shot failed to trouble Bartlett. Bozanic struck straight at Bartlett from 20 yards after some neat interplay whilst soon after, a superb saving tackle from Lunt denied Bozanic inside the area after Hammond had turned Dennehy with ease on the right. The Aussie winger, on loan from Reading, was starting to have a real say in the game and failure to pick him up saw a long-throw fall to him and he got past Dennehy but was denied by Bartlett's quick-reactions to come out and close down the shot. David Bird nearly opened the scoring for the Robins when he found space in the middle of the park to shoot goalwards and his effort took a big deflection; Bartlett was wrong-footed but managed to change direction to push the ball around the post.
Hereford made two subs to try and alter the flow of the match with Richard Rose and Southam introduced in place of Dennehy and Done respectively. It did little though as minutes after the changes, Cheltenham took the lead. A pass forward saw Hammond easily shrug off Rose and spin by him before racing into the box and drilling low past Bartlett into the far corner. Hereford continued to be shaky throughout the team whilst Cheltenham continued to create chances; a clearing header looped over the Bulls' back-line where Hammond raced onto it once more but he lacked composure with a wild left-foot shot. David Hutton replaced Bozanic before Hereford finally had an effort in the second-half. A McQuilkin cross from the left was tamely met by Jones and his header went wide.
In the 79th minute, Hereford defied the odds by equalising. Jones found Lunt in the middle and his expertly weighted through pass found Godsmark on the run from the right-wing, who controlled the ball with a cushioned header on the right before firing past Brown into the corner. Despite the goal, Cheltenham looked far more likely to find a winner; they replaced Hayles with Tom Denton up front. Denton's first-touch was a rising shot on the turn inside the box which went over whilst McQuilkin's long-range effort never looked like troubling Brown.
As the game approached a close, Cheltenham really should have won it with a series of fine chances. Firstly, a long goal-kick by Brown went over the Hereford defence and but for the sweeper like role of Bartlett to save, their strikers would have been celebrating once more. In stoppage-time, the Robins piled on the pressure but to no avail. Hammonds' cut-back from the by-line was somehow cleared by Ryan Green before a header from Andy Gallinagh was pushed over by Bartlett. From the corner that followed, the ball bounced around the box with the ball being cleared off the line before Gallinagh tried to place a shot in the corner where Lunt, stood on the post, chested off the line.
At the end of the game, Hereford will have been more than relieved to come away with a point. They rode their luck throughout the game with Cheltenham looking stronger in every department. The Bulls have Bartlett, christened the new 'Superman' by the Meadow End faithful to thank for a man of the match performance as he reguarly denied the Robins' strikers. It will give Trewick alot to ponder such as which formation to play or who to play at centre back. Next up for Hereford is the return of the original 'Superman', Wayne Brown, to Edgar Street when his Bury visit on Tuesday evening.
Hereford: Bartlett, Green, D. Jones, Dennehy, Valentine, Godsmark, McQuilkin, Lunt, Done, Constantine, Morris.
Subs: Adamson, Rose, Lowe, Gwynne, C. Jones, Southam, Tolley.
Cheltenham: Brown, Bird, Townsend, Duff, Ridley, Bozanic, Pook, Gallinagh, Richards, Hayles, Hammond.
Subs: Richardson, Diallo, Hutton, Denton, Alsop, Tabor, Low.