Bumper crowd turn out to witness 8 goal thriller

Great Turnout Of Hereford United Supporters

812 people attended today's Supporters Trust derby and were rewarded with seeing 8 goals hit the back of the net. Following the first-outing of the rebranded supporters team resulting in a 6-2 loss against Ledbury the other week, it was all eyes to this afternoon’s game against a Worcester City XI.

Worcester City took advantage of the Bulls’ slow start with some early possession. A cross from the lefthand side of the box was met by the head of a Bulls defender who conceded a corner. The Blues failed to convert the initial corner, but after the ball was cleared, it was sent back into the box for the City’s Marc Burrow to pull Worcester ahead.

Chris Oleksy Kept This Shot Out

In the space of just a couple of minutes Worcester had doubled their advantage. A corner to Worcester was only partially cleared to Matt Gardiner whose long range shot sailed over the top of goalkeeper Chris Oleksy’s head and into the top left corner of the net.

As Hereford’s legends started to find their feet they managed to bring themselves back into the game. Firstly some good work up the right wing between ex-Bull’s Matt Clarke and Scott Goodwin put pressure on Worcester centre-back, and first team manager, Carl Healey, to hit the ball behind for a corner. The inswinging corner taken by Goodwin was all too easily headed away from the danger area.

Callum Brennan, a member of last year’s youth team, came on and made a instant impact on the game, setting up United’s first goal. After carrying the ball up the right wing, he whipped in a cross to Eli Drury who chipped the ball over advancing ex-Blues’ keeper Paul Moore.

Eli Drury Scored Hereford's First Goal

Drury was responsible for the Bulls’ equaliser minutes later, when Hereford won possession and took the ball to the edge of the area, it was crossed into the path of the onrushing Drury who tapped the ball home from 8 yards. Steve Guinan was unlucky not to send the Bulls ahead shortly after, but his shot from the left of the box was agonisingly wide and hit the side netting.

Steve Guinan's Shot Hits The Side Netting

Luke Griffiths scored Hereford’s third goal of the half when he cut in from the left wing and sent a unstoppable shot over Moore’s head and into the back of the net to give the Bulls the lead.

After a very impressive first half performance, it looked as though Hereford would be going into half time on the front foot. Hereford supporters team secretary and goalkeeper Chris Oleksy came out to deal with danger by Worcester’s left winger, but the ball was crossed into the centre of the box allowing Wes Joyce to try his luck. Oxo’s attempted save wasn’t enough to keep the ball out of the goal.

HT: Worcester 3 - Hereford 3

Jamie Griffiths Captained Hereford's Team

It was difficult for the second period to live up to the quality and entertainment of the first, but the tiring Hereford squad had trouble to deal with some of Worcester’s manoeuvres. A shot by the Blues’ target man from 25-yards was caught convincingly by Oleksy. On the counterattack, Alex Jeannin was unlucky not to score from a corner as his shot whistled inches wide.

Alex Jeannin With a Cross

As Hereford tried to keep the score level, a powerful from shot City’s James Lemon was parried by Oleksy, but easily tapped in his follow up shot to calls of offside from Bulls fans. As the game started to draw to a close, Lemon took his chance from just inside the 18-yard box and the ball sailed into the back of the net to put the game out of reach of Hereford.

FT: Hereford 3 - Worcester 5

Att: 812
With thanks for Rich Widdowson from Worcester City for the names of their goalscorers.

See you on Tuesday evening at Old School Lane where HUST take on Pegasus Juniors.

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