Son of Eric watched Hereford draw 2-2 at Cinderford this afternoon.
Cinderford’s ground The Causeway is set high on a hill above the town and has extensive glorious views over the Forest of Dean. The former banking which would have afforded classic views is now out of bounds and there are three varying stands on one side. The club was closely following Covid regulations ensuring everyone used the NHS app or gave their details. The crowd divided into two halves, those who were happy to be close to each other staying on the side near the bar and refreshments. The rest of the crowd socially distancing around the remaining three sides.
The weather had turned and was cool for July and overcast, the mobile ice cream van from Kelsmor Dairy, Garway Common was doing slow business. Cinderford had produced a team sheet with lots of Hereford players listed but the tannoy announced a team of trialists with just three named players. Several of the “anonymous” trialists have been named in the local press so it was a confusing state of affairs.
The team of trialists looked like a collection of individuals thrown together and for the first fifteen minutes Cinderford were on top moving the ball around comfortably whilst the Hereford team introduced themselves to each other. Gradually Hereford came into the game but at times the press failed as an individual decided to gamble on the ball breaking free for themselves, but this usually resulted in Cinderford escaping the press. Similarly, there were some optimistic shots when colleagues/rivals were better placed. Too many trialists makes for errors. Eventually the trialist approximating to Riyad Mahrez on the left wing got into the centre and released a nicely weighted pass for the trialist resembling Kevin Campbell to break into the box and fire powerfully past the keeper. The Mahrez style player showed some nice touches but struggled to outpace the Cinderford backline. As soon as Hereford went into the lead there was a drinks break.
Cinderford came back and won a penalty with Bamford clipped by a trialist. This resulted in the most organised teamwork of the half with four Hereford players berating the referee and captain Owen-Evans being particularly forceful. The penalty was drilled to the right at pace but the trialist keeper got a strong hand to the ball forcing the ball onto the bar and away but only for centre forward Bamford to force the ball over the line. The trialist keeper had a steady game and showed some impressive distribution especially with long throws. The trialist who looked like Patrice Evra did little to impress. Another trialist resembled Ross Barkley taking dead balls and showing some good passes but also a languid style not working back as hard as several other trialists.
Owen-Evans looked sharper after his recovery game in midweek getting through a lot of work and charging down a clearance which just failed to fall kindly for him. Tom had a good game but by his high standards his crossing was not quite at the level we’ve come to expect. He made a good captain “managing” the referee and organising trialists as best he could.
The trialist resembling Ngolo Kante in midfield started with some poor touches but got better and started to play some quick sharp balls and recovered possession neatly. Pollock again looked solid as a centre back, but it was hard to get any sense of a team with such disparate individuals.
At half time Hereford changed to something approaching a potential first time. With fresh legs and Cinderford making less changes it was a slightly unfair fight with fresh legs versus old legs. The pressure continued to build, and it was only a matter of time before the Bulls scored. The goal came through an error with Cinderford keeper Jones rushing out of the box to try and head clear a but making a misjudgement and instead nodding the ball straight up into the air. It fell kindly to Kouhyer and he controlled the ball and passed it into the net.
Coming on at half time Kouhyer made a limited impact often struggling to find space for the first ten minutes or so. He then talked to TOE and quickly the pair made a dynamic partnership pulling Cinderford’s defence all over the pitch. Kouhyer showed off a chop which whilst not in the John Mills class was more than good enough to fool Cinderford’s defence most of the time and got in several good shots. Maz showed his versality playing variously in the centre, on the right and finally on the left. Hereford’s most influential player was Hodgkiss who was dominating the pitch and appearing all over the place bamboozling Cinderford’s backline. He initiated lots of neat triangles and consistently broke the lines, only a couple of skewed shots spoiled a very impressive performance. He was marking the taller Harry Emmett who had a good touch, but Hodgkiss consistently won the physical battles against the larger man.
Hereford should have gone on to win comfortably but a slip by Bodenham saw the ball crossed to Duncan who finished well. Bodenham tried to carry on but was clearly in some discomfort and was substituted.
Bearing in
mind something close to a first choice Hereford side were fitter, faster
and more skilled against a tiring Cinderford Town in the second half
this should have been a comfortable victory. The failure of the trialist
forwards to convert the many chances created means that there may be
more trials ahead for trialists to get the sort of scorer required.