Eric reports from Darlington for Bulls News:
A despondent bunch of Bulls fans made the lengthy journey with low expectations. Some of the louder fans were engaged in a debate on whether they should be booing chariman Kinnersley or manager Richards, a sad comment on the current state of affairs. The heart was gladdened though by the glorious walk to the ground through South Park (the largest in the North East). Autumn shades alongside the River Skerne made for a wonderful approach to a ground. I’ve walked through parks to see Hereford at Aldershot, Fulham and the common at Cambridge but this tops them all.
Many years ago, I celebrated a birthday with a Hereford United win at Feethams now commemorated with a roundabout. Then there were 40 away fans, so it shows how far the new club has come that about 100 Bulls fans were present today, some having spent over £100 to be there.
A nice touch for supporters buying on line was to see the ticket sent out by the Darlington FC Supporters Group. The hi-tech ticket system was somewhat let down by the man on the gate recording five bar gates rather than scanning your codes. A friendly welcome from a newish ground on the edge of town.
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| Not a cloud in the sky. The teams come out at Darlington. Pic: Eric |
Hereford set up for the win with Symons returning to lead the attack with Roberts on the left and Lloyd on the right. Both teams started brightly, and Hereford’s first threat came when Roberts drilled a cross in which Lloyd was not quite tall enough to reach. A great run by Thomas won a corner which Owen Evans aimed at the penalty spot, the ball drifting out to Murphy whose hasty shot was not caught right and ended up nearer the corner flag than the goal.
It was a glorious day for football, with the bright sun going down to eventually make a reddish sunset. Thankfully Darlington did not take the chance to fire in shots down the inside right channel, as for much of the half Yates was staring into a low sun. My granddad was no sports scientist, but he would have been shouting at keeper Yates to wear a cap.
A snapshot from the edge of the box by Nicholson was held by Yates. Murphy won the ball in the middle of the park and fed Lloyd who started the game very brightly and got down the right wing to force a corner. An Owen-Evans corner just went over Smith’s head and was cleared. Hereford were trying to play football. Despite some recent awful experiences and slips, Murphy tried heading the ball back towards the defenders in the middle of the park and a Darlington player intercepted and almost got in.
Symons was changing the game, at times and especially for dead balls Darlington put two men on him, allowing Roberts and especially Lloyd more space. Owen-Evans found some of this space in the inside right channel and advanced towards the box, he let loose a speculative shot which he didn’t quite catch clean and it bounced in front of the keeper for what should have been a routine save with the keeper going down early. Maybe there was some backspin as the bounce seemed to make the ball rear up and the keeper tamely palmed the ball into the roof of the net. Hereford’s luck was on the turn. All credit to Evans-Owen for having a go, if you don’t buy a ticket you can’t win the prize.
Darlington immediately pressed more and won a free kick which Wheatley put in towards the six-yard box, Yates came and flapped or was not tall enough, and Cullinane-Liburd headed away. On the next Darlington attack a snapshot was palmed out by Yates for a corner, and when this came in, he gathered it comfortably.
Lloyd had been one of Hereford’s best players working back hard and bright on the right. He was also having a tussle with left back O’Hanlon which he was getting the better of, and enjoying a few verbals too, also with the officials. His commitment was admirable but chasing back he fouled Elliot from behind and in doing so seemed to pull a muscle resulting in his substitution for Finn. As Lloyd hobbled off the referee rightly gave him a yellow card to remember him by.
Elliot was a bright tricky midfielder in a Darlington side playing good football and his next shot was well held by Yates. By contrast central defender Galbraith was struggling at times with Hereford’s movement and desperately sliced the ball for clearances at times. He failed to stop Symons doing one of his trademarks holding the ball half turning and feeding Thomas who sped down the wing and pulled the ball back all the way to Greenslade who fired in a shot which was blocked for a corner. This was half cleared for Murphy to fire in a shot which Symons flicked just over the bar although he was adjudged offside.
Hereford reorganised with Finn on the left and Roberts moving over to the right, but Hereford were not as bright without Lloyd, and Finn struggled to impose himself on the game. Striker Saunders swivelled and shot on target, but his hard shot was deflected out for a corner which Yates punched away.
With Finn on the left Darlington increasingly targeted their right-hand side for attacks. Trotman, Elliot and Nicholson were repeatedly combining well and playing clever triangles. Their best move had right back Trotman overlap into the corner and pulling a driven cross back to left back O’Hanlon inside the box at the far post fifteen yards out. Despite being unmarked and having lots of time he snatched at the shot and put it over the bar when it seemed easier to score.
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| One of the handful of corner taken by Tom Owen-Evans. Pic: Gomez The Mexican Cat |
Roberts then fed Owen-Evans who got down the right and won a corner which he took but put too close to keeper Hemming who claimed it for the last action of the half. Hereford going in one up.
The second half started quietly, and Hereford attacked with Finn but the Darlington defence seemed distracted and the ball fell to Owen-Evans who doubled up for himself and Hereford. The goal came at the same time as a loud fire alarm went off, and perhaps this distracted the defenders. It’s not every week the dishwasher will overheat and set off an alarm, but again Hereford had got lucky.
Darlington responded quickly. A sharp precise pass by the impressive Elliott between Smith and Greenslade found Syers who got his strike off from a narrow position about 12 yards out. Yates appeared to have it covered but seemed to go down a little early to cover his near post. As the ball came past him, he got his right hand on the ball but did not have enough strength to palm the ball out and could only deflect it. Syers shot was hard but it was near enough for Yates to have been disappointed to have not saved it. It is to his credit that in his reactions he showed he knew that he should have saved it. Manager Richards loyalty to the players he has brought in is admirable, but several Bulls fans questioned how long this can go on.
From cruising with a two-goal lead and thirty minutes to see out Hereford were right back under the cosh with Darlington enlivened by their quick response. As the second half went on Darlington looked fitter, sharper and hungrier. They had not played for two weeks and this was Hereford’s third game in seven days.
Darlington upped their game Yates saving a hard shot at the expense of a corner. Darlington then thought they had scored but the referee rightly ruled that Yates had been clattered and disallowed it. Whilst Murphy had not done that much progressively, he had sat well in front of the four-man defence tidying things up. Manager Richards brought on O’Sullivan for Murphy and this seemed to allow Darlington more space and control in midfield despite some nice touches by O’Sullivan.
Wave upon wave of Darlington attacks were being staunchly repelled by Smith and Cullinane-Liburd but captain Thompson for Darlington spotted Hereford’s defensive weaknesses. He went wide left, wide right and central making an extra man and repeatedly overloading Herefords defenders with the new ball players guilty too often of ball watching rather than marking a man or tracking back. Thompson fed Nicholson in the box and only smart work by Yates coming out quickly saved the day at the expense of a corner. The first corner was put back out for another corner which Yates came and claimed.
Darlington were lively and pacy now, Saunders get down the right after a slip by Cullinane-Liburd. Thomas seeing the danger got in a top rate tactical foul for the team at the expenses of a booking. Wheatley sent in a wicked curling dipping shot from the right which clipped the bar and bounced down and thankfully away with Yates beaten.
Hereford were making occasional forays into the Darlington half, but their aspirations were demonstrated by Roberts shooting well wide after the whistle had blown to waste time. The referee booking him. Back on the attack Trotman found the increasingly influential Thompson inside the box and Owen-Evans did well to block his low cross at the expense of a corner. Darlington took off their main striker Saunders who had made little impression against Hereford’s centre backs and brought on Ainge.
More quick play by Trotman and Elliott pierced through the inside right channel and Nicholson’s shot was saved well by Yates. More combining by Trotman and Elliott played Saunders deep down Hereford’s right with Greenslade blocking the cross. On the next attack it was Trotman who surged into the box and as Greenslade challenged, Trotman dived over his leg in a poor attempt to win a penalty. Referee Williamson waved this away and generally had a good game, but the deception deserved a booking. It was good to see skipper Smith forcefully making this point.
Wheatley’s corners increasingly targeted a mass of bigger Darlington players around the penalty spot and as with most teams in this division Hereford were always struggling with the physical battle not on heart, but on size. At half time several seated fans opined that it would be wise to bring on Green at some stage to hold on to the lead. None of the substitutions made by Richards improved Hereford’s resilience and with the team fading there were no breakaways to extend the lead.
Yet another Trotman cross was cleverly back flicked by Syers for what looked a cute finish, but Yates showed superb reactions diving low and pushing the ball out, unfortunately Nicholson who had a very good game was following up and rifled the ball in with Yates stranded trying to get back up off the floor. The goal had been coming and it was frustrating to see it come from a move down Darlington’s right. Some Bulls fans were criticising Greenslade for getting beaten when Darlington were doubling up on him. Time after time Smith and Greenslade did their best but Finn did not work back enough repeatedly leaving Hereford outnumbered and exposed.
Darlington were rampant, and O’Sullivan was booked for trying to waste time by kicking the ball away. Symons remained a threat and trying to build an attack substitute Glover took him out with a nasty high challenge and was rightly booked. Overloaded again Greenslade sold himself and Trotman had time to pick out Thompson who dinked a delightful ball onto the edge of the six-yard box. Substitute Ainge soared to head it back where it had come from but whilst it was easier to score, managed to just put it wide - a let off.
It was only a matter of time before Darlington scored it seemed, and centre back Galbraith was staying up for attacks, found by Nicholson he headed just over the bar. Thankfully when Yates claimed the ball yet again, the referee blew up after four minutes of added time.
Darlington were a bright attractive side and Hereford used up some luck today. It is not every week that the opposition keeper will throw the ball into the net and a defender be distracted by a fire alarm. An away draw is an improvement, but, yet again Hereford could not see out a game and this time failed to hold on to a two-goal lead. Manager Richards made poor decisions today, not providing extra experience and defensive resilience with his substitutions. It is disappointing to hear his post-match talk saying the team made the same mistakes which they need to learn to eradicate. It would be more accurate for him to acknowledge that he as the manager is making the same mistakes, choosing youth over experience, and smaller players over larger. If he does not eradicate this the team will be bottom of the table shortly. There’s no doubt Symons made a big positive difference today. It’s not rocket science.
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| Eliot Richards (right) was also on the bench on Tuesday night as he recovers from injury. Pic: Will Cheshire |
Green, Richards and Horsell have hundreds of games experience and were left on the bench. Once Lloyd went off and Finn came on Darlington dominated possession. Hereford’s younger players and loanees learned some lessons today, but at the expense of two points for the club. It is hard to see how this strategy of learning by losing and losing leads fits into the long-term vision of the board. The only beneficiaries at the moment are the parent clubs who loan Hereford players who see them learning by mistakes for another club, not their own.
Man of the Match has to be Evans-Owen for the goals and lots of bright positive play. He put a series of corners into good places as well, with a few larger players there may have been a greater reward. Thomas was not far behind him the only player to pick up a necessary booking.
Attendance - 1,427 with about 100 Hereford