Hereford’s final preseason fixture saw them host Stourbridge on Saturday in the Herefordshire FA Senior Invitational Cup. Three changes were made to the side that drew 0-0 with Gloucester midweek – Martin Horsell returned between the sticks, with Ryan Green back from holiday to replace Harry Franklin in defence, and Lance Smith dropped to the bench to make way for John Mills.
The first chance of the game came with two minutes on the clock. Garyn Preen found James Bowen down the left wing with a pinpoint pass, but the 21-year old was denied at near-post by visiting keeper Matt Gould.
In a relatively uneventful first half, neither side had many chances in front of goal. For Hereford, a great run from John Mills saw him beat his man with the classic ‘Mills chop', but his low cross evaded the onrushing Pablo Haysham as the Glassboys cleared the danger.
Three shots for Stourbridge in as many minutes were dealt with by Hereford. Two chances for Jordan Archer were weak and gathered by Horsell, with Jordan Murphy then seeing an effort cleared off the line by the experienced Ryan Green.
At the end other of the field, a headed clearance from Josh Green kept the scores level going into the break. After Garyn Preen won a corner, Pablo Haysham's delivery was met by Calvin Dinsley 15-yards out, but his header couldn’t beat Green at the far post.
HT: Hereford 0 - Stourbridge 0
At the start of the second half, some poor defending by Stourbridge’s Stuart Pierpoint let Keyon Reffell break into the box to set up Preen. But Preen’s shot from the left of the area was stopped on the line by Paul McCone.
In the 51st minute midfielder Dinsley came close to breaking the deadlock, but his rasping shot from range just cleared the crossbar.
Moments later, a Stourbridge free kick saw them come close to scoring, but after Pierpoint got onto the end of Drew Canavan’s delivery, his bullet header ricocheted off the post.
Hereford kept up the pressure on the visitors’ defence, with Garyn Preen, John Mills and his strike partner Pablo Haysham all seeing their shots sail wide of the target.
In the 67th minute the Glassboys denied Hereford with a third goal-line clearance. Keyon Reffell made a superb solo run into the box, forcing the keeper into parrying his shot from 12-yards. As the ball fell to John Mills, his low drive was cleared off the line by the backtracking McCone.
With the scores still level, a penalty shootout was looking likely to decide the winner of the cup, but in the 82nd minute captain Jimmy Oates broke the deadlock.
Oates rose to meet James Bowen's inswinging corner from the right, heading the ball past the static keeper to score his third goal of preseason.
FT: Hereford 1 - Stourbridge 0
Att: 1,025 with 157 in the away enclosure
Hereford: Horsell, Oates, Bowen, Edge, Deaman, Green, Reffell (Franklin – 89'), Dinsley, Mills (Smith – 71’), Haysham (Symons – 71’) Preen (Preece – 71’)
Sub not used: Harris.
Stourbridge: Gould, Westlake, Christophuru (Canavan – 46’), McCone, Pierpoint, Gator, Hague (Cooke – 65’), Forde, Archer (Rowe – 76’), Murphy, Green.
Subs not used: Moseley, Soloman, Jeavons.
Next Game: First Game of the Season - Kings Langley Away on Saturday 12th August at 3pm
Next Game: First Game of the Season - Kings Langley Away on Saturday 12th August at 3pm