Bulls gift points to send Nuneaton top

Hereford United handed two gift-wrapped chances to Nuneaton, which York and Moult accepted and despite a Rod McDonald goal and several good opportunities to score the hosts were made to look comfortable winners.

Martin Foyle elected to reinstate Danny Leadbitter at right back in place of Dom Collins and handed a start to Frankie Artus at the expense of Michael West who dropped to the bench.  Kingsley James was a slightly surprising addition to the squad as he took his seat among the subs.

Chris Bush launched an early ball forward but Smith’s flick-on ran through to home keeper Evtimov.  What was, maybe, an early indication of The Bulls’ luck showed when winger Wesley York came back from an offside position to receive the ball right in front of the linesman who clearly had not been watching the play. 

Walker's cross was blocked for a corner from which the keeper was impeded and a free kick resulted.  With Nuneaton on the attack, a free kick was half cleared and York sent in a cross from which Rhys Evans had to tip Moult’s header over the bar.  Walker lost possession out wide on the right to allow York to cross and Brown’s shot was pushed round the post by Evans.  York then got on the end of a diagonal ball but his shot was high and wide.

Rhys Evans Watching A High Ball

Frankie Artus jinked his way into the box on 18 minutes to fire in a shot that was to be the only on-target effort for The Bulls in the first period.  Then on 23 minutes, Nuneaton opened their account.

Rhys Evans failed to hold a shot from Sleath and York was quickest to react and stab home from 8 yards.  Adam Walker received a lecture from the referee for a cynical block on Paul Green before a brief period of pressure from The Bulls produced crosses from left and right.  Richard Brodie saw his shot on the turn sail wide of the mark before Dan Walker showed his versatility by losing possession on the left flank.

Despite making little headway, The Bulls persisted with long balls from the back, which Nuneaton’s Cowan repeatedly headed clear.

HT Nuneaton 1 Bulls 0

Kingsley James Ready To Come On

The travelling 128 had their spirits raised following the break as Kingsley James made a welcome return to action in place of Frankie Artus although many would have thought that an addition to the midfield might have been preferable to a replacement.  James had clearly missed playing and was promptly involved in a move down the left that resulted an effort being scrambled off the home goal line.  However, it wasn’t long before another James’ cross brought an equaliser.

Combining well with Purdie and Leadbitter down the right, James whipped in a cross that was met by a thumping header from McDonald to bring the scores level on 53 minutes.

Suddenly, the pretty but fragile looking home team looked as though they may be about to flounder but misplaced passes and slow reactions again conspired to undermine what appeared to be an improvement.  A poor crossfield ball to Paul Green left him exposed and Armson burst forward to drive in a low cross which Moult turned in from close range just 8 minutes after The Bulls had dragged themselves back into the game.

With United needing something special, Leadbitter started to make more forward runs and produced a couple of sweet crosses that went unconverted before The Bulls were again frustrated by a poor refereeing decision.  Kingsley James road three tackles to emerge in space with the ball only for the official to stop the move and award a free kick in favour of The Bulls.  Whatever happened to playing advantage?

Jon Brown and Michael West joined the action in place of Rob Purdie and the ineffective Walker with fifteen minutes remaining and once again United seemed to raise their game.  Another flying overlap by Leadbitter produced a corner and from West’s flag kick the half clearance was met by a thunderous shot from McDonald that thudded of the crossbar.  The rebound fell to Luke Graham who sadly, screwed his shot wide of the mark before some fairly ordinary play from both sides dispensed with the final few minutes.

FT Nuneaton 2 Bulls 1

Hereford: Evans, Leadbitter, McDonald, Graham, Bush, Green, Purdie (Brown 74), Artus (James 46), Walker (West 74), Brodie, Smith. Subs not used: Collins, Sharp.

Nuneaton: Evtimov, Streete, Cowan, Dean, Bell, York (Taylor 90), Walker, Armson, Sleath, Brown, Moult. Subs not used: Adams, McNamee, Richens, Pearson.

Attendance 1085

Once again The Bulls were undone by being understaffed in centrefield.  Playing three strikers leaves the rest woefully exposed particularly when the ball is given away so cheaply up top.  Even Richard Brodie seemed to be losing heart after the break.

Richard Brodie And Gavin Cowan Having A Heated Discussion

If Nuneaton are a measure of this season’s Conference then the standard has dropped some bit even considering last season’s nonsense.  Both their goals were gifted and despite having enough chances to at least take a share of the spoils The Bulls rarely looked like overcoming a fairly average outfit.  It was good to see Kingsley back and looking keen but it will take more than his return to shore up a midfield that is constantly overworked and outnumbered.

When’s Ranks back so we can play football again?

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