Despite a delayed kick off for Tuesday evening's FA Cup First Qualifying Round Replay due to Romulus' team coach held up on the M50 near Ross, Hereford booked themselves a place in the next round thanks to goals from Tristan Plummer, John Mills and Jamie Edge.
Manager Pete Beadle made 3 changes from the side that drew 1-1 with the Roms on Saturday, with Jamie Willets, Chris Barker and the injured Jamie Cuss all missing out on a place in the matchday 16. Defender Chris Parry, who signed from Undy preseason, was handed his first start, whilst John Mills and Aaron Birch were both recalled into the starting XI.
Mike Symons was quick to win a corner for the hosts, pressuring captain Mark Branch on the right wing. Pablo Haysham delivered the ball into Jimmy Oates at the near post, but his powerful header went well wide of the target.
Romulus were quick to threaten from the goal kick, with Alex Harris forced into making a save after a defensive error by Rob Purdie allowed Liam Hailey an early effort on-goal.
With 7 minutes on the clock, Mike Symons had a perfect chance to put the home side one-up, but his downward header from Oates' cross flashed wide of the upright.
The chances continued to come for Hereford, with Mills’ curling effort from a free kick too high to trouble visiting keeper Matt Sargeant after he was fouled on the edge of the area.
In the 34th minute, Mills twisted and turned his way into the box from the left flank, creating himself enough space to get a shot away; but his effort from an acute angle took a deflection before hitting the side netting, when perhaps playing the ball to the unmarked Mike Symons at the far post may have been the better option. From the following corner, Jamie Edge was unable to keep his shot down as he fired the ball over the crossbar.
Two more chances for the Whites to open the scoring fell to John Mills and Mike Symons, with Mills heading Jimmy Oates' cross inches over the bar.
Moments later Tristan Plummer and Jimmy Oates combined effectively on the right wing. Plummer displayed some excellent footwork in order to whip in a cross to Mike Symons, but Symons' headed effort went high and wide of Sargeant's goal.
With 4 minutes until the break, Hereford broke the deadlock. Matt Sargeant did well to parry Pablo Haysham’s initial shot, but with Hereford still in possession, Purdie played the ball to Tristan Plummer on the right of the box, and after once again showing some tricky footwork he fired home into the roof of the net.
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| Tristan Plummer Scored Hereford's First Goal |
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John Mills was agonisingly close to giving Hereford a two goal lead going into half time, but after being set-up by Mike Symons, his shot past Sargeant ricocheted off the post.
HT: Hereford 1 – Romulus 0
Hereford got the second half off to the best possible start, with Mills adding a second goal. After capitalising on a mistake by the Romulus defence, Mills ran from the half way line and calmly slotted the ball past the advancing keeper.
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| John Mills Lines Up Hereford's Second Goal Of The Tie |
Substitute Ross Staley was unlucky not to score with a chance in the 70th minute, with Matt Sargeant pushing his fierce left-footed drive around the post. 60 seconds later the ex-Alvechurch keeper pulled off another fine save to deny Tristan Plummer’s rasping shot from a similar position.
In the dying stages of the game, Jamie Edge was able to increase Hereford’s lead to three goals. Plummer was once again a thorn in the Romulus side, crossing the ball to the feet of Edge who managed to get a shot away in a crowded penalty area. His right-footed effort took a deflection en-route to the bottom right hand corner of the net.
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| Jamie Edge With Hereford's Third And His First For The New Club |
FT: Hereford 3 – Romulus 0
Att: 2,240
Sponsors’ MotM: Mike Symons
Hereford: A. Harris, Oates, Purdie (c), Edge, Green, Parry, Plummer (Sinclair – 92’), Birch █, Mills, Haysham (Staley – 48’), Symons.
Subs not used: Edwards, Huntbach, Horsell.
Romulus: Sargeant, Evans █, Branch (c) █, Lee █, Hill, Farquharson, Degville-Cross █ (Walters – 74’), Agbonlahor, Hailey (Gibson – 83’), Rutty-Smith, Donnelly █ (Vilela-Santos – 46’).
Subs not used: Masidi, Parsons, Danks.