Hereford United came away from Broadhall Way with all three points from a match that was, frankly, not one for the spectators. Joe Colbeck’s cross/shot crept in at the back post on 83 minutes for the only goal of the game.
Jamie Pitman made the only change forced on him by replacing Harry Pell with James McQuilkin while new signing Adrian Patulea took his place on the subs bench.
The hosts were the first to threaten when following a free kick on the halfway line Ashton pulled his shot wide from the edge of the box. Fleetwood cut in from the left but his effort was cleared and McQuilkin’s shot was deflected for a corner that came to nothing. The early exchanges provided little more than a glimpse of what was to come…Stevenage pumping balls into the box hoping for a winning header while The Bulls were little better as they tried the over-the-top route for Fleets and Fairhurst to run onto. Neither side met with a lot of success as Kovacs for The Bulls and Ashton for Stevenage met most attempts with thumping headers to clear. Ashton, however, had to leave the field on 15 minutes due to injury but on the whole, the hosts held firm. Colbeck managed to release Fleetwood on the left of the penalty area but the striker’s effort was blocked away by keeper Chris Day.
Veteran Ronnie Henry blazed wide and Wilson saw a header go off target before Fairhurst was taken out by Foster. From Kenny Lunt free kick, Townsend won the first header at the back post but the second ball was easily cleared. Fleetwood and Fairhurst combined to set McQuilkin scampering down the right but his final ball just failed to reach Fairhurst. Lunt was becoming more influential as he drifted infield from his wide left position to find Colbeck but the low cross was sliced away for a corner. A Lunt cross-field ball found Fleetwood deep on the right and The Bull’s hitman nutmegged his marker before firing across the six-yard box.
A poor first period finished with Kenny Lunt’s 25-yard free kick being charged down by the wall of defenders.
HT Stevenage 0 Bulls 0
Early in the second half, Kovacs misjudged the flight of the ball and missed his header but Bartlett sprinted out to clear with Harrison closing in. Play continued to be very scrappy and with thirty minutes remaining, Ryan Green made his first purposeful attempt to join the attack. Reid missed a decent chance when he headed over from five yards with the goal gaping and Bridges missed a similar opportunity when his header went wide.
Fleetwood’s shot was hoofed away by a defender before The Bull’s striker forced another hurried clearance from which Featherstone (on for Quilks) volleyed into the side netting. For Stevenage, Mousinho fired wide before The Bulls worked the ball out of defence with some neat football from Rose and Green which saw Joe Colbeck released down the right. Head down and charging for the bye-line, Colbeck drove a cross in without another Bulls player in the box but with keeper Day having come to his near post, the ball sailed over his head and settled in the back of the net for a slightly fortunate goal with just seven minutes remaining.
Stevenage continued to swing balls into the box but The Bulls saw out the match to claim the points in front of a reported 1670 including around 130 from The Shire.
FT Stevenage 0 Bulls 1
Hereford: Bartlett, Green, Kovacs, Townsend, Heath, Colbeck, Rose, McQuilkin (Featherstone 72), Lunt, Fleetwood, Fairhurst (Patulea 67). Subs unused: Hoult, Preston, Thomas, Purdie, Baheng.
Stevenage: Day, Henry, Ashton (Mousinho 16), Bostwick, Laird; Wilson, Bridges, Foster, Long (Winn 60); Reid (May 72), Harrison. Subs unused: Bayes, Charles, Beardsley, Sinclair.
Three points from our old Conference foes but unfortunately not a pretty sight for those watching although there was a promising cameo from Patulea who showed a decent turn of pace and a willingness to work.
A home win on Saturday would be nice.
Text at top (next game etc)
Next Game: Away At Buxton On Saturday 12th October at 3.00pm