Yet another poor performance sees Bulls bow out of FA Trophy

Hereford yet again failed to back up an impressive performance as a dominant King’s Lynn swept them aside to advance in the FA Trophy.

Two early first half goals and one late one saw King’s Lynn win 3-0, but in truth, the National League North leaders could and should have won by more.

Hereford did have a chance to score from the penalty spot after Peter Vincenti was upended, but the same player saw his spot-kick saved by Alex Street.

And that pretty much summed up Hereford’s night. The Bulls showed very little creativity going forward, while both of King’s Lynn’s goals could easily have been avoided.

There were only 700 home fans in attendance, which must be a worry for the club going forward. Of course, it was always going to be a low crowd tonight because of the nature of the game and the fact that normal league prices applied, but there is clear discontent among a lot of supporters that performances have not been good enough this season.

As Russell Slade keeps saying, it’s about consistency and whether the players can perform to the level required on a consistent basis.

The visitors flew out of the blocks and took the lead in the fifth minute. A free kick was headed behind for a corner, but the resulting set piece was easily headed home by Rory McAuley with the Hereford defence all at sea.

And it was 2-0 just three minutes later. This time, fellow centre-half Ross Barrows was on hand to drill the ball home after it cannoned back off the crossbar.

Jordan Cullinane-Liburd had a tame effort easily gathered whilst Kelsey Mooney ran out of space when close to goal.

Hereford had a decent shout for a penalty on 37 minutes but the appeals for hand-ball were waved away by the referee.
 

The only real chance Hereford had in the first half was when Reece Styche saw his effort deflected behind for a corner on the stroke of half time.

Slade brought on Jordan Nicholson for Kelsey Mooney at half time in an attempt to give his side a boost and the substitute quickly saw an effort palmed away.

Then in the 51^st minute, Hereford had a great chance to get back into the game after being awarded a penalty. But Vincenti’s effort was weak and was easily saved.

Despite that miss, the Bulls looked promising and had an effort cleared off the line just three minutes later. 

But far too often this season, Hereford have ‘looked ok’ in patches. But it’s 90-minute performances that their Edgar Street faithful are craving.

And in the end, Hereford were lucky that they weren’t on the end of a thrashing. The visitors hit a post in the 74^th minute before substitute Sonny Carey sealed the game four minutes from time.  

King’s Lynn even had chances to score again before the game was up. They again hit the woodwork before Carey somehow saw his effort cleared off the line after he rounded Brandon Hall.

It’s back to the league on Saturday when Farsley Celtic are the visitors to Edgar Street. Hereford will have to put in a much better performance, otherwise the attendances will clearly struggle to stay above 2,000, especially in the run up to Christmas.

If there was one positive tonight, Danny Greenslade came off the bench following a lengthy spell on the side-lines following injury.

Hereford: Hall; Hodgkiss, Cullinane-Liburd, Riley, Pope; Vincenti (Liburd 64), Pollock (Greenslade 74), Owen-Evans, O’Sullivan; Mooney, (Nicholson 45), Styche. Subs not used: Allen, Bodenham, Ash, Burwood.

King’s Lynn: Street; Jones, Barrows, McAuley, Fox; Clunan, Richards, Kelly (Hawkins 79), Henderson (Carey 83); Marriott, Gash (Payne 86). Subs not used: Jarvis, Bastock.

Attendance: 715 (11 away fans).