Boldmere St. Michaels 0 - Hereford 3

The Referee Leads The Teams Onto the Pitch

For today's game away at Boldmere St. Michaels, no changes were made to the starting XI by manager Peter Beadle after Hereford FC defeated Lye Town 4-1 on Tuesday night. Hereford came out into the sunshine wearing their away kit of red and black stripes.

Despite Boldmere's pitch featuring a diagonal slope from corner to corner, the condition of the playing surface was of a reasonable standard. With the visitors playing down the slope towards the clubhouse end, within the first minute Adam Page pulled a shot wide of the goal.

Then in the 12th minute Dylan Bonella got on the end of a long clearance following a Hereford corner. With Bonella finding Sol Wheatley on the left, he managed to cut into the box before his low drive was palmed away by the keeper, however the Bulls failed to test Boldmere from the following corner, as Wheatley screwed his shot well wide.

Sol Wheatley With A Shot

Five minutes later Boldmere created their first clear-cut chance of the game. As Hereford failed to retain possession, the ball was played forward to Peter Gould and as he linked up well with Charisma Agbonlahor, his rasping shot was too high and wide to trouble Harvey Rivers in the Hereford goal. Agbonlahor then repeated the trick soon after when a second shot was also sent well over.

Midway through the first period Hereford were unluckly not to grab the opener. Sol Wheatley cut into the box with the ball, before Pablo Heysham set John Mills up in front of goal. However The Bulls' top goalscorer saw his shot deflected behind, with Aaron Birch blazing his effort well over from the resulting corner.

In the 33rd minute Joel Edwards made a run forward from his left back position and was found with a lovely through ball from John Mills. Joel Edwards poked the ball past the defender who unceremoniously scythed him down on the edge of the box. As Edwards went up for the header from the free kick, the ball came off the skipper’s shoulder, forcing keeper Butler to parry the ball. Sol Wheatley got on the end of the return ball before his ambitious overhead kick was smothered by The Mikes goalkeeper Sean Butler.

With Bulls fans starting to get behind their team, just before the break Dylan Bonella played the ball short to Adam Page. With the loanee breaking forward towards goal, he tried his luck from 18-yards, but his shot was straight at the Boldmere stopper.

HT: Boldmere St. Michaels 0 - Hereford 0

As the game got back underway, early on in the second half Harvey Rivers did well to catch a Boldmere cross before quickly bowling the ball out to Sol Wheatley; the winger then went on a solo run into the box before his low strike was deflected out for a throw on the far side. 

With 50 minutes on the clock Aaron Birch's ball found Wheatley on the right, and after breaking into the box and getting around his man, Wheatley had time to compose himself in front of goal before unleashing a powerful left-footed shot, forcing the keeper into making a fingertip save. However from the resulting corner Hereford failed to make the most of the opportunity as the ball was headed clear.

With just under 10 minutes gone in the second half, a Boldmere foul 25-yards out saw the referee award a free kick to Hereford. Pablo Heysham's curling delivery into the box was flicked on by the head of John Mills, and his effort beat the outstretched keeper and nestled in the bottom left hand corner of the net for his 15th goal of the season.

John Mills's Header Beats The Keeper

Hereford won another free kick minutes later when a ball out to Wheatley on the right flank saw him out-skill his man before a tangle led to Adam Robinson bringing Wheatley down. From Heysham’s free kick, a diving headed clearance only reached Aaron Birch on the edge of the box, and after controlling the ball he made no mistake in firing the ball past Sean Butler to double Hereford’s advantage.

Aaron Birch Scoring Hereford Second Goal

Seven minutes later Hereford further extended their lead. As Aaron Birch played an accurate ball through to John Mills, he easily beat the last man and had time to pick his spot before slotting the ball into the bottom right hand corner of Butler’s net.

John Mills Gets Past The Last Defender

As the game drew to a close, deep into stoppage time substitute Sirdic Grant played the ball back to Ryan Green. As the ball was played through to Pablo Heysham, he was able to unleash a shot from the edge of the area, but was well held by the diving Sean Butler.

In truth this was a comfortable win with Boldmere showing little in the way of attacking intent.

FT: Boldmere St. Michaels 0 - Hereford 3

Att: 539

Hereford: Rivers, Green, Edwards, Bonella, Willets, Summers, Wheatley (Grant - 88'), Birch, Mills, Haysham, Page (Hughes - 72').

Subs not used: Kontic-Coveney, Miller, Oates.

Boldmere St. Michaels: Butler, Gould, Robinson, Donaghy, Craven, Forde, Lewis, Palmer, Agbonlahor, Halsall, Skinner.

Hereford FC offical goals video

@HerefordGoals Highlight Video

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