Hereford FC manager Peter Beadle as expected made some changes to the line up that played Alvechurch in the league 10 days ago. Recent signing James Pilling was given his debut. John Mills, Jimmy Oates and Pablo Haysham were not in the squad. Alvechurch also made changes to their starting 11 after drawing with Quorn last week.
Hereford started the game slowly but with some early possession. It took till around 15 minutes in to the match for the first shot on goal as Ross Staley had a chance that was easily saved by the Alvechurch keeper. Not long after a Jamie Willets pass back nearly went in with Martin Horsell scrambling it off the line, Alvechurch claimed the ball went over the line but no goal was given.
Following that incident the vast majority of the first half with quiet with minimal chances from either side. Alvechurch had a couple of chances from free kicks but went wide or were dealt with. Hereford found breaking the Alvechurch defence difficult. The deadlock was broken with a minute left to play in the first half. Alvechurch found some space and Andrew Parsons slotted home to open the scoring.
Hereford response was immediate and within a minute a Staley cross was met by Joe Tumelty as he headed the ball past the Alvechurch goalkeeper.
Hereford response was immediate and within a minute a Staley cross was met by Joe Tumelty as he headed the ball past the Alvechurch goalkeeper.
Half Time: Hereford 1-1 Alvechurch
Hereford started the second half strongly and Tumelty had the first chance within minutes of the restart but his shot was punched clear by the Alvechurch's goalkeeper. Hereford continued to press and within 10 minutes of the second half Symons was next to test the Alvechurch keeper after some good play from Grant but Symons shot was deflected away for a corner. From the resulting corner Hereford made it 2-1, Alvechurch managed to head the ball away only for it to fall to debutant Pilling who scuffed his first shot before smashing his second attempted with a volley in to the back of the net.
Hereford continued to threat and Robbins was next to threat but he was unable to hit the target as his shot went high and over. Hereford continued to press and continued to try increase the lead. Grant had a good shot but it was palmed away by the church keeper.
Alvechurch had a quiet second half and didn't have many chances to test the Hereford goal but when they did try to attack it was dealt with by Hereford. The best chance was a freekick with around 15 minutes left to play but it was easily dealt with by the Hereford keeper.
Hereford finished off the match with less than 10 minutes ago from the penalty, some good build up play between Birch and Staley saw Staley brought down inside the penalty area. The referee had no hesitations and signalled a penalty. Symons slotted the ball home from the spot to make it 3-1.
In stoppage time Hereford fans were asking for another penalty as Staley was brought down again but the referee didn't give anything.
In stoppage time Hereford fans were asking for another penalty as Staley was brought down again but the referee didn't give anything.
Full time: Hereford 3-1 Alvechurch
Hereford: Martin Horsell, Max Kontic-Coveney, Joel Edwards, James Pilling (Aaron Birch), Jamie Willets, Ryan Green, Joe Tumelty, Sirdic Grant (Dylan Bonella), Ross Staley, Anthony Robbins (Carlos Moreira) and Mike Symons. Subs not used: Nathan Summers and Mustapha Bundu
Alvechurch: Paul Evans, Chris Field, Mike Wardle, Dave Bellis, Andrew Parsons, Mark Smith, Connor Deards, Ryan Winwood, Karl Edwards, Jack Creswell and Josh March. Subs: Leigh Downing, Nick Wright, Nathaniel Waite, Luke Paskin and Danny Ashton
Attendance: 1236 (including a reported 4 paying away fans)