Hereford lost out by the odd goal of five at The Pirelli Stadium this afternoon as Burton’s late strike saw them win 3-2 following a goal-less first period.
The Bulls team saw just one change from the Barnet game with Richard Rose coming in to replace Ryan Green who had failed to recover from his dead-leg injury. Tony James lined up for Burton against his former employers.
The Brewers made the better start to the game with debutant loan signing Keiron Cadogan cut in from the right to test Bartlett with a crisp effort from the edge of the box in the early minutes before a dangerous driven cross from Austin was headed away by Darren Jones. Burton continued to have the territorial advantage as The Bulls' wingbacks, Valentine and Lowe, held back to provide what was often a five-man back division while they saw out the opening quarter. A long range strike from former Kiddyfiddler Russell Penn was pushed out by Bartlett and Shaun Harrad's effort was kept out by a well timed block from Rose.
In the eighteenth minute, The Bulls mustered their first threat on goal when Valentine’s curling free kick was punched away by home keeper Krysiak. A Harrad drive flashed across the goalmouth before a cross from the left cannoned off a defender foot into the path of Penn whose 18-yarder was blocked by Blanchett.
Having defended well for thirty minutes, The Bulls pushed on in the final 15 of the first half creating several opportunities of their own. Valentine, making probably his first real forward run, provided a fine cross to the back post which was met by a McCallum header which Krysiak could only parry back to The Bulls striker whose well struck shot was tipped away at full stretch by the recovering keeper. Constantine then fired just wide from 20 yards and King had an effort blocked on the line. Tony James showed good anticipation coming across to clear when McCallum and King had played a one-two round his centre-back partner Branston. At the other end, Bartlett was quick to react when a defensive scramble left Simpson one on one in the six-yard box. Kenny Lunt then picked out Constantine who fired over from 18 yards as The Bulls finished the half in the ascendancy.
HT Burton 0 HUFC 0
Sloppy defending by Branston in the opening minutes of the second period allowed Constantine to feed King but the Leicester man's effort was again beaten away the Krysiak. Then, in the 50th minute, the home side grabbed the lead following some poor defensive play by The Bulls. Austin lifted a hopeful ball into the box and despite the close attentions of three defenders, Harrad found the time and space to control the ball at the third attempt, turn and fire passed Bartlett from inside the box. This was the first of five goals in an eventful second half. Just ten minutes later, The Bulls were back on level terms. A diagonal ball towards the right corner found McCallum on the break. The youngster showed great composure controlling the ball on his chest before flicking it passed Branston and delivering an inch perfect cross that left Constantine with the simple job of nodding into an empty net from the back post.
The Bulls joy was, however, to be short lived. An innocuous Burton corner was nodded down by Webster with Constantine in close attendance. The ball struck the strikers arm from no more than a yard and the referee harshly awarded a spot-kick despite Constantine having his arm by his side and making no movement towards the ball. How the ref could expect him to avoid the contact from point blank range is anyone's guess but Harrad dispatched the penalty into the corner of the net. The Bulls were quickly back on the attack with Lowe bringing a fine save from the home keeper following a neat move involving Lunt and McCallum. The same pair were involved when United again drew level. McCallum fed Lunt near the right byeline and The Bulls’ midfielder showed a deft touch to wrong-foot the defender and send a teasing cross to the back post. Valentine was on hand to hook the ball back across the goalmouth where Constantine was on hand to notch his second headed goal of the game. Shortly afterwards, the industrious McCallum again showed good chest control as he layed-off to Valentine but the wing-backs driven cross just evaded the advancing Constantine. Then, as the game approached the final minutes, Burton were awarded a soft free kick just inside the United half from which a second fatal defensive error resulted in the final and winning goal. John McGrath launched a hopeful punt towards the back post which the unmarked Aaron Webster headed passed Bartlett from close range. Despite having only a couple of minutes left on the clock, The Bulls still had time to fashion a couple of late efforts. Darren Jones produced a thunderous drive that Krysiak tipped round the post and from the resulting corner; Richard Rose was inches away from heading a leveller.
FT Burton 3 HUFC 2
So, a couple of defensive lapses and a hotly disputed penalty against two well worked Bulls replies saw Hereford return empty-handed when the performance probably deserved a point at least. Having started cautiously, United had certainly finished the first half looking the more likely to score. The team competed well in the second period also but once again were frustrated by an official who failed to apply the required ounce of common sense to his decision making process. The late introduction of wingers Done and Pugh was maybe asking too much when a fifteen minute run might have produced more while the calmness and experience of Ryan Green was clearly missed. Bring on The Slops.
Hereford: Bartlett, Rose, Jones, Blanchett, Lowe (Done 90), Lunt, Sonko, Valentine (Pugh 90), King, Constantine, McCallum. Subs not used: Adamson, Dennehy, Gwynne, Godsmark, Marshall.
Burton: Krysiak, Austin, Branston, James, Webster, Cadogan (Stride 90), McGrath, Simpson, Phillips (Gilroy 69), Penn, Harrad. Subs not used: Redmond, Walker, Pearson, Maghoma, Brown.
Attendance 2796 with approaching 300 from The Shire.