For tonight's County Cup Semi-Final, Hereford manager Pete Beadle fielded a relatively strong starting XI against local side Kington Town. With a Hartpury College fixture ruling out a number of Hereford’s regular starters for the second week in a row, youngster Carlos Moreira, Anthony Robbins and Max Kontic-Coveney started in place of Dylan Bonella, Joe Tumelty and Aaron Birch who all dropped to the bench from the side that lost to Highgate United last week.
Hereford kicked off attacking the Blackfriars End in the first half, and were first to threaten. After Anthony Robbins was fouled on the edge of the area, Rob Purdie tried his luck from the resulting free kick, but his low right-footed effort was easily saved by Bryan Kirkham.
As the quarter of an hour mark passed, Kington skipper Joe Mayglothling came close to breaking the deadlock after breaking through Hereford’s defence. Mayglothling did well to create enough space to get a shot away, but he failed to control his strike as it easily cleared the roof of the empty Meadow End terrace.
In the 19th minute, Rob Purdie, who was present when Hereford last played Kington 10 years ago, burst through the centre with just the keeper left to beat. After rounding Kington’s sprawling keeper, he managed to find the back of the net to open the scoring.
The home side continued to dominate the game, and 4 minutes later they increased their lead through John Mills. After Anthony Robbins had done well to win possession, James Pilling and Carlos Moreira combined effectively as a cross was whipped in from the left. After only scoring one goal since the 16th January, the unmarked Mills had little trouble in converting the cross to double Hereford’s lead.
Throughout the remaining 20 minutes of the first half, Hereford were unlucky not to grab another goal.
Firstly, Ross Staley did well to cut the ball into the box from the right, but his chipped effort was easily caught by Kirkham.
Moments later, John Mills saw his right-footed shot denied by the upright after he did well to work himself a shooting opportunity.
HT: Hereford 2 - Kington Town 0
4 minutes after the restart, Kington conceded a free kick on the edge of the 18-yard box as Ross Staley was brought down. As Cheltenham loanee James Bowen stepped up to take the free kick, his rising effort went high and wide of the target.
Following a good spell of possession, in the 55th minute, Anthony Robbins did well to chase a long-ball forward from Joel Edwards, but his strike from the left-hand side of the box went harmlessly wide. 2 minutes later, Robbins had another chance to add to Hereford’s goal tally after Max Kontic-Coveney did well to feed him a neat ball. Despite turning and getting a shot away, he failed to strike the ball with any conviction as the keeper had little difficultly in claiming the effort.
On the stroke of the 69th minute, Kington created their best chance of the game. Miles Langford’s powerful 25-yard strike left Martin Horsell well-beaten, but ricocheted out off the crossbar.
4 minutes later, Hereford managed to put the game to bed with the first of 2 goals in 2 minutes. With Rob Purdie delivering an inswinging corner into the heart of the box, Ross Staley grabbed his second goal since joining Hereford as he found the back of the net with a well-directed header.
The onslaught continued from Hereford as John Mills made it 4. After some good build up play between Purdie and Kontic-Coveney, James Bowen played the ball into the box and Mills managed to get his head on the ball to divert it past Kirkham for his second goal of the game.
The Bulls continued to create chances for themselves, and with 3 minutes left on the clock substitute Aaron Birch won possession and managed to find Dylan Bonella in space. With Bonella looking to try his luck from range, his left-footed effort forced the keeper into making a fine save as the ball was pushed around the post. From the resulting corner, Jordan Cooper cleared the ball as far as Joe Tumelty, but he dragged his low drive wide of the upright.
FT: Hereford 4 – Kington Town 0
Att: 679
A win tonight meant Hereford made it through to the final against Westfields, which will be played at Edgar Street later this month.
Hereford: Horsell, Kontic-Coveney, Bowen, Pilling (Bonella), Willets, Edwards (C), Moreira (Tumelty), Purdie, Mills, Robbins (Birch), Staley.
Subs not used: Bonella, Birch, Tumelty.
Kington: Kirkham, Layton, Evans, Cooper, Dyer, Langford, Mayglothing (C), Dyer, Langford, Parry, Jones.
Subs: Rowlands, Davies, Morgan, Jones, Lloyd