With Hereford United heading to Chester tomorrow, BN takes a look back at the last time the Bulls played at the end of Bumper's Lane which was on Friday 12th October 2007.
Chester City 1 Hereford United 1
Bulls Leave Crime Scene With Share Of Swag - by Ex-Landlord
Nothing
short of criminal! That was the comment I heard whilst leaving the
Saunders Honda at Chester this evening. Not a comment on the game, not a
comment on the result or the performance of the Bulls players, just an
observation on the performance of the referee. He overlooked two vicious
attacks on Hereford players and missed the most blatant penalty since
the game was invented.
Moi? Prone to exaggeration? Well, maybe just a tad but there were certainly two incidents that left Hereford players wondering if the old days of "never mind the ball, get on with the game" had returned unannounced by the FA. Dean Beckwith was forced to leave the field after trying to continue following an aerial assault. Deano was stood beneath a dropping ball waiting to head clear when a Chester player launched himself into the Bulls' centre-back leaving him in a heap on the floor and suffering from a worrying head injury. Just before half time, Kris Taylor was pole-axed by Chester's Butler. With Taylor flat on the floor, the Ref appeared to allow play to continue in case an advantage developed. It didn’t. In fact Chester broke up field with Taylor still lying motionless. It was not until the ball went out of play that the Chester defender was booked for a tackle that earlier had not even merited a free kick!
Despite a sequence of unusual decisions by the man in the middle, the teams produced an intriguing game. The first half without doubt belonged to Chester who had by far the greater possession. Hereford, again, chose to give ground and defend deep. John McCombe had little time to measure the pace of the game when he replaced Beckwith but with the exception of a few hasty hacks into the stands and several poor passes out of defence he acquitted himself well. While Chester huffed and puffed, keeper Wayne Brown had little real action other than collecting over-hit through balls and defensive back passes. At the other end Easton, twice, Guinan and Robinson all saw their efforts go high and wide. As the half drew to a close it was noticeable that Hereford were missing the outlet of pacing winger Lionel Ainsworth.
The second period started with The Bulls taking a greater share of the game but with manager Turner surprisingly choosing to hold back on the introduction of Ainsworth. Easton popped an early effort over the bar and Theo Robinson, not for the first time, was caught offside when a bit more awareness would have seen him through on goal. Six minutes into the half, Chester introduced Simon Yeo in place of McManus and it was Yeo who broke the deadlock in the 58th minute. A cross from the Chester right was pinging about in the Hereford area and luckily fell to Yeo who fired home from close range. Turner responded by bringing on his talisman winger Lionel Ainsworth in place of the hard working Webb and The Bulls immediately started to look more threatening. Ainsworths pace produced a couple corners through last-ditch clearances while a Richie Partridge corner found the head of John Murphy but Brown was perfectly positioned to collect. Robinson missed a couple of chances when well placed but with fifteen minutes to go it was Steve Guinan who made way for Big Trevor Benjamin between a brace of corners. As the corner came in from the right, a poor attempted clearance fell to Toumani Diagouraga who netted from six yards. The Equaliser was just reward for the improved second half display. In fact, despite a spirited last few minutes from Chester, The Bulls had the better of the closing stages and had a couple of chances to snatch a win. However, on the balance of the two periods, a draw was probably a fair result to a game that leaves the teams "as they were" in terms of League positions.
The Bulls looked workmanlike throughout and improved in pace and threat with the addition of Ainsworth. Ausie, Trent McClenahahahan had a much improved game and McCombe showed more than a few signs of being a useful stand-in who will no doubt develop in technique and confidence as he gets more first team work under his belt. The midfield, although a bit deep at times, performed well with both Smith and Diagouraga covering every blade of grass.
Apart from a Tuesday night HFA Cup match against Ledbury Town, The Bulls now have a break until next Saturday when they entertain current table-toppers MK Dons at Edgar Street. Hopefully, the full seven-day gap will give sufficient time for Dean Beckwith to recover from his battering. A crowd of 3430 watched the game with a reported 627 appreciative fans from The Shire. Well done to both sets of players - the game was a credit to League 2.
Chester City: Danby, Marples, Linwood, Butler, Wilson, Partridge, Dinning, Hughes, McManus, Murphy, Ellison. Subs: Palethorpe, Rutherford, Holroyd, Roberts, Yeo
Moi? Prone to exaggeration? Well, maybe just a tad but there were certainly two incidents that left Hereford players wondering if the old days of "never mind the ball, get on with the game" had returned unannounced by the FA. Dean Beckwith was forced to leave the field after trying to continue following an aerial assault. Deano was stood beneath a dropping ball waiting to head clear when a Chester player launched himself into the Bulls' centre-back leaving him in a heap on the floor and suffering from a worrying head injury. Just before half time, Kris Taylor was pole-axed by Chester's Butler. With Taylor flat on the floor, the Ref appeared to allow play to continue in case an advantage developed. It didn’t. In fact Chester broke up field with Taylor still lying motionless. It was not until the ball went out of play that the Chester defender was booked for a tackle that earlier had not even merited a free kick!
Despite a sequence of unusual decisions by the man in the middle, the teams produced an intriguing game. The first half without doubt belonged to Chester who had by far the greater possession. Hereford, again, chose to give ground and defend deep. John McCombe had little time to measure the pace of the game when he replaced Beckwith but with the exception of a few hasty hacks into the stands and several poor passes out of defence he acquitted himself well. While Chester huffed and puffed, keeper Wayne Brown had little real action other than collecting over-hit through balls and defensive back passes. At the other end Easton, twice, Guinan and Robinson all saw their efforts go high and wide. As the half drew to a close it was noticeable that Hereford were missing the outlet of pacing winger Lionel Ainsworth.
The second period started with The Bulls taking a greater share of the game but with manager Turner surprisingly choosing to hold back on the introduction of Ainsworth. Easton popped an early effort over the bar and Theo Robinson, not for the first time, was caught offside when a bit more awareness would have seen him through on goal. Six minutes into the half, Chester introduced Simon Yeo in place of McManus and it was Yeo who broke the deadlock in the 58th minute. A cross from the Chester right was pinging about in the Hereford area and luckily fell to Yeo who fired home from close range. Turner responded by bringing on his talisman winger Lionel Ainsworth in place of the hard working Webb and The Bulls immediately started to look more threatening. Ainsworths pace produced a couple corners through last-ditch clearances while a Richie Partridge corner found the head of John Murphy but Brown was perfectly positioned to collect. Robinson missed a couple of chances when well placed but with fifteen minutes to go it was Steve Guinan who made way for Big Trevor Benjamin between a brace of corners. As the corner came in from the right, a poor attempted clearance fell to Toumani Diagouraga who netted from six yards. The Equaliser was just reward for the improved second half display. In fact, despite a spirited last few minutes from Chester, The Bulls had the better of the closing stages and had a couple of chances to snatch a win. However, on the balance of the two periods, a draw was probably a fair result to a game that leaves the teams "as they were" in terms of League positions.
The Bulls looked workmanlike throughout and improved in pace and threat with the addition of Ainsworth. Ausie, Trent McClenahahahan had a much improved game and McCombe showed more than a few signs of being a useful stand-in who will no doubt develop in technique and confidence as he gets more first team work under his belt. The midfield, although a bit deep at times, performed well with both Smith and Diagouraga covering every blade of grass.
Apart from a Tuesday night HFA Cup match against Ledbury Town, The Bulls now have a break until next Saturday when they entertain current table-toppers MK Dons at Edgar Street. Hopefully, the full seven-day gap will give sufficient time for Dean Beckwith to recover from his battering. A crowd of 3430 watched the game with a reported 627 appreciative fans from The Shire. Well done to both sets of players - the game was a credit to League 2.
Chester City: Danby, Marples, Linwood, Butler, Wilson, Partridge, Dinning, Hughes, McManus, Murphy, Ellison. Subs: Palethorpe, Rutherford, Holroyd, Roberts, Yeo
Hereford United: Brown, McClenahan, Broadhurst, Beckwith, Taylor, Webb, Ben Smith, Diagouraga, Easton, Guinan, Robinson Subs: Ingham, McCombe, Rose, Benjamin, Ainsworth
Referee and guide dog minder Mr C Oliver