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| Man Of The Match - Mustapha Bundu Scored A Hat-Trick |
After a relatively slow start to the match, the first action of the game came in the 12th minute following a spell of good build up play. Pablo Haysham cut into the box from the left before weaving his way through Khalsa’s defence. He managed to get a left-footed shot away from 10-yards, but was unlucky to be denied the opener by the woodwork.
Haysham continued to create some good chances for the home side, and in the 18th minute accurately crossed the ball in to Joe Tumelty, but his header was too weak to trouble James Pemberton in the Khalsa goal.
Hereford continued to pile the pressure on Sporting Khalsa’s defence, when 8 minutes later Mustapha Bundu got on the end of Joel Edwards’ cross, but his headed effort was narrowly wide of the target.
With 31 minutes on the clock, Jimmy Oates found Joel Edwards on the left flank with his cross-field ball, before Hereford’s skipper played an accurate cross into Pablo Haysham. Haysham’s snapshot was met with a strong save from Pemberton, doing well to tip his shot over the bar.
From the resulting corner, Pablo Haysham delivered a great ball to Mustapha Bundu at the far post, who made no mistake in nodding the ball home, leaving the keeper to watch helplessly as the Bulls took the lead.
10 minutes later, Jimmy Oates had his goal disallowed after poking in Mike Symons’ cross. After rounding his man, Symons was adjudged to have let the ball cross the line before setting up Oates.
But moments later Hereford did manage to double their lead. Mustapha Bundu quickly broke away on a counterattack, cutting into the box beautifully from the left before unleashing a shot from 15-yards. Despite Pemberton getting something on Bundu’s right-footed effort, it wasn’t enough to prevent him from grabbing his second.
HT: Hereford 2 - Sporting Khalsa 0
Seven minutes after the restart Joe Tumelty did well to intercept a pass from Khalsa's defence, but was fouled as he made progress down the right flank. The resulting free kick was taken short to Jimmy Oates whose cross was forcefully put behind. Dylan Bonella’s inswinging corner was met with the head of Aaron Birch, but his effort rattled off the crossbar. Jamie Willets then almost got his name on the scoresheet, seeing his header from the rebound saved by Pemberton.
As the hour mark passed, Hereford continued to push for a third goal. Mike Symons offered support to Mustapha Bundu as the pair burst into Khalsa’s box, but as Bundu looked to cross to Symons, the backtracking Tesfa Robinson brought him down. Being the last man, the referee was left with little option but to show Robinson a straight red, after pointing unhesitatingly to the penalty spot.
In the absence of John Mills, Bundu stepped up to take the spot kick, coolly slotting the ball into the right-hand side of the net past a static Khalsa keeper, for his first hat-trick with Hereford.
In the absence of John Mills, Bundu stepped up to take the spot kick, coolly slotting the ball into the right-hand side of the net past a static Khalsa keeper, for his first hat-trick with Hereford.
Five minutes later, the Whites put the game to bed as they increased their lead to 4 goals. Pablo Haysham beat his man as he broke into the box, showing some good close control on his jinking run. Faced with just the keeper left to beat, Haysham had little trouble in finding the back of the net for his first goal in 6 games.
The onslaught continued from Hereford, searching to add to their goal tally. After replacing Pablo Haysham in the 73rd minute, Rob Purdie combined effectively with Aaron Birch, playing a nice one-two, before Purdie forced Pemberton into parrying his low drive.
In the dying stages of the game, Sporting Khalsa looked for a late consolation goal. Firstly, Bradley Lawley’s header was inches too high of the target, and then moments later Robinson failed to capitalise on a defensive error; with just Harvey Rivers left to beat, his shot lacked any real conviction, as Hereford’s keeper gathered the ball.
FT: Hereford 4 – Sporting Khalsa 0
Att: 2,399 with around 30 travelling supporters
Sponsors’ MotM: Mustapha Bundu
Hereford: Rivers, Oates, Edwards (c), Bonella, Green, Willets, Bundu (Grant – 84’), Birch, Tumelty (Staley – 71’), Haysham (Purdie – 73’), Symons.
Subs not used: Pilling, Mills.
Sporting Khalsa: Pemberton, Franco, Rogers, T. Robinson, Jackson, Nelson, Wherton (c), Meese, M. Robinson, Bannister, Nisbett.
Subs: Martin, Cooper, Hill, Lawley, Townsend.
Match videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEiCmSxoZFgiP_XO987CWLg/videos