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| Matt Mcleod Celebrates One Of His Goals |
The young Bulls will face Malvern Town in the next round after a strong performance against Tipton. The tie is set to be played on Thursday October 4th.
Having had the better of the chances in the opening stages of the first half, it was really only a matter of time before the young Bulls could capitalise on their chances.
In the 13th minute a clearance from defence was picked up by Jack Marston, and having already burst through the middle of Tipton's defence fired past the onrushing keeper to give Hereford the lead.
Another goalworthy chance came two minutes later as Matt McLeod played a neat-ball through to Sean Swann, a defender who'd been part of the first team once or twice, but his shot took a deflection for the first corner of the game.
As the corner was swung in from the left, Davies-Austin managed to get the slightest touches to direct it towards Luke Firkin, but he couldn't quite get to it as the ball went behind for a goal kick.
Firkin was soon on the scoresheet as he put the Bulls firmly in the driving seat of the FA Youth Cup tie. Firkin shrugged the defender off as he broke into the area from the right wing before shooting across the keeper to double Hereford's lead.
Just after the half hour mark the Whites further extended their lead as Luke Firkin scored his second of the evening. A Jack Marston corner from the left was swung into the box with Firkin lurking on the goal line to tap the ball home.
Three goals in the last eight minutes of the first half saw the score at 4-2 going in the break. Tipton managed to pull a goal back as substitute Sam Ganner bundling the ball home after a scuffed clearance from the near-post fell to him.
Four minutes later Matt McLeod cancelled out Ganner's goal. Luke Firkin offloaded the ball to McLeod and after a turn of pace saw him left with just the keeper left to beat as he slotted the ball home.
But it was the visitors who had the last laugh in the first half as they scored in the final minute. A free kick on the right, level with the penalty area, was whipped into the box with pace as Bartosz Walczak netted with a glancing header.
HT: Hereford U18s 4 - Tipton Town U18s 2
Attacking the Meadow End in the second half, the first real chance fell to Hereford but Luke Firkin was denied his hat-trick as he was adjudged to have been offside before slotting the ball home. But from the resulting free kick, a lapse in concentration from Hereford saw Tipton reduce the deficit to just one goal as a cross from the right wing was turned home by Walczak for his second of the evening.
As the game turned out to be a high scoring one, a foul on Firkin in the box as he tried to latch onto the end of a lovely cross-field ball left referee Tony Baker pointing to the spot. Upstepped Firkin, and determined not to be denied his hat-trick again, drilled the ball just to the right-hand side of the keeper to restore the Bulls' two-goal lead.
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Luke Firkin continued to run rings around the Tipton defence as he made it 6-3 with 62 minutes on the clock. A Hereford free kick from 25-yards was lofted into the box and Firkin was well-positioned to head the ball towards goal as he found the back of the net with a little help from the upright.
Hereford's seventh followed less than ten minutes later, after Matt McLeod played in Luke Firkin, he left it too late to get a shot away as the ball flashed across the face of goal from a tight angle, but Jack Martson was on-hand on the opposite side of the box. After getting into a good area to get a shot away, Marston buried the ball in the back of the net to extend their lead to four goals.
As the young players started to tire, there were a few more half-chances from Joe Mellars that went wayward, but to end a bad evening for the visitors they gifted Hereford their eighth of the evening as they turned a cross into the back of their own net.
The goals kept coming and Joe Mellars finally scored after having a number efforts throughout the game. Olly Purdy's cross from the left was met with a cheeky back-heel to make it nine.
Hereford weren't finished with scoring as they ran-out 11-3 winners with Luke Firkin netting his fifth goal of the evening as he got on the end of a rebounded clearance off the post.
FT: Hereford U18s 11 - Tipton Town U18s 3
Hereford: Keane, Swann (c), Morgan, Pemberton, Thomas, Davies-Austin, Marston, McLeod, Firkin, Mellars, Vauand.
Subs: Bridges, Peters-Vanstone, Purdy, Goodfellow, Whitlock.
Tipton Town: Slater, Elson, Rouwenhurst, Mahoney, Potter (c), Wildig, Walczak, Michael Hogg, Brown, Matthew Hogg, Bavion-Robbins.
Subs: Hussan, Ganner, Garrett.