All good things must come to an end. In a rather desperate encounter at Edgar Street this afternoon, the Bulls lost by a solitary goal to fellow strugglers Lincoln City. However, they remain in 20th place, and have an early chance to repair the damage at home to Macclesfield on Tuesday.
Although breezy, the forecast rain did not materialise and the home side welcomed Joe Heath back from suspension with Rob Purdie reverting to midfield duty at the expense of Kenny Lunt, left to warm the bench. In the early exchanges, Jake Jervis shot tamely when well placed, but the best chance occurred at the other end. On form Millwall loanee Ashley Grimes cleverly beat the offside trap and bore down on goal. Instead of squaring to either of two onrushing colleagues, Grimes rather selfishly attempted a shot to which Adam Bartlett stood firm and effected a fine save.
Stuart Fleetwood, full of energy and confidence after recent successes, tried some smart trickery to unlock a stubborn Lincoln defence, and Joe Colbeck and Purdie looked swift and imaginative. A misunderstanding between Ryan Green and Bartlett almost ended in a gift to the visitors, but the Bulls keeper pounced in the nick of time.Honours were fairly even at this stage, Jan Kovacs heading Jimmy McQuilkin’s corner onto the roof of the net, with ex-United terrier Gavin McCallum anxious to catch the eye.
In a Lincoln attack, there seemed little danger as the ball fell to Delroy Facey some 20 yards from goal. The burly striker was afforded too much time and fired a low shot into the corner of Bartlett’s net to give the away team a 29th minute lead. Rather puzzling was McCallum’s reaction to the goal, feeling the need to taunt the Meadow End by blowing kisses, a childish and totally unprovoked gesture which resulted in him being booed for the remainder of the match.
Almost immediately, Fleetwood had a chance blocked, and then Green made an important tackle on McCallum.
Ryan Green taking little notice of former Bull Gavin McCallum - pictures taken by Andy Compton of the Hereford JournalMichael Townsend and Kovacs were also called into action and held firm; Julian Kelly did find the back of the Bulls net, but an offside flag had already been raised. Jervis was finding it difficult to make an impact, though he received little protection from the officials who missed what looked like blatant pushes from behind as he went for the ball. Green and Colbeck made some thrusting moves down the right, and a flowing move involving Richard Rose, McQuilkin and Heath resulted in a cross which Colbeck was just beaten to by Trevor Carson in the Imps goal.
Joe Colbeck getting the better of McCallumHT: HUFC 0 LINCOLN CITY 1
Emerging early after the break, Hereford set about restoring parity and almost succeeded. Fleetwood showed dogged determination to rob the full back, steady himself and lay the ball into Jervis’s path. Once more the youngster was unable to find a telling shot, but the loose ball ran to McQuilkin, who had two quickfire attempts blocked by a desperate rearguard. Purdie probed for an opening and played Jervis in, but the cross was cut out. Fleetwood fell dramatically in the box in the vain hope of a penalty award, an action to which several of the opposition objected, and the referee had to persuade everyone to put away their handbags.
As the half progressed, Lincoln seemed more and more to be content with their afternoon’s work, allowing Hereford the bulk of the possession. Sean Canham replaced Jervis and shinned a shot wide after a promising move and a period of bagatelle in the Lincoln box. New boy Harry Pell also entered the fray and instantly took the eye, not just with his imposing altitude, but with a crunching tackle followed by some assured and calm distribution. With the Bulls dominating, it was frustrating that the ball did not fall kindly to a striker. Moreover, some rather blatant time-wasting disrupted the flow of the game.
Fleetwood watches as a Lincoln defender falls over his keeperFleetwood attempted to curl a shot into the far corner, and while the idea was sound, the execution lacked finesse, and Carson was able to save with ease. Inevitably, Lincoln did have one or two breakaway chances, especially when Kelly went clear and delivered a low cross that somehow managed to evade several flailing boots in the area. A mighty clash of heads then left Daniel Hone prostrate and requiring a lengthy visit from the medics. Clearly, some kind of miracle was performed and Mr Hone was immediately fit enough to rejoin play. Hallelujah!
As the game neared its conclusion, it did so with Hereford still on the front foot, but it was becoming clear that, in a rather disjointed performance, it was not to be their day. Thoughts now turn to Macc.
FT: HUFC 0 LINCOLN CITY 1
Attendance: 2776 including 164 Imps.
HUFC: Bartlett, Green, Kovacs, Townsend, Heath, Colbeck, Rose, McQuilkin (Pell 72), Purdie (Lunt 85), Jervis (Canham 68), Fleetwood.
LINCOLN CITY: Carson, Watts, Hone, Kelly, Hunt, Hoyte, McCallum (Fuseini 91),
O’Keefe, Howell, Grimes (Kanyuka 91), Facey (Broughton 91).