Mistakes in the first half ultimately cost Hereford as they lost their final pre-season friendly 2-1 to Bath City.
Momodou Touray capitalised on a poor Brandon Hall error to put the away side in the 33rd minute before he cut the Hereford defence up with a delightful diagonal ball which led to Cody Cooke making it 2-0 eight minutes later.
Hereford played much better in the second half and pulled a goal back via a Maziar Kouhyar header in the 52nd minute. Kouhyar impressed and could have levelled the scores six minutes from time, but his effort went just wide. However, Bath held on for the win.
Despite implying that he won't be playing any more trialists during pre-season, Hereford manager Josh Gowling still named five in his matchday squad. There was still no place for Miles Storey or James Vincent as the club still await international clearance, while Joey Butlin was also unavailable.
Bath were much the better team in the first half with Touray particularly impressing. As early as the fourth minute, the on-loan striker from Salford beat two players before seeing his shot deflect wide.
At the other end, Luke Haines shot wide for Hereford before Ryan McLean - who looked lively - caused the Bath defence problems before the Romans' defence cleared their lines.
On the half-hour mark, Touray saw a shot deflect wide before he put his side ahead four minutes later. Brandon Hall raced out of his area, but was easily beaten by Touray, who had the simple task of slotting the ball home. And it was 2-0 in the 41st minute. This time, a great breakaway move by Bath led to Touray finding Cooke with a wonderful ball. Cooke then composed himself before besting Hall with a cool finish.
Hall did redeem himself with a smart save to deny Alex Fletcher making it 3-0 two minutes before the break. The half-time whistle could not have come any sooner.
Kouhyar came on for a trialist at the start of the second half and he immediately had an impact. In the 52nd minute, a fine Tom Owen-Evans cross led to the new Bulls signing heading home.
He then fired a free-kick over the bar on the hour mark before shooting wide just afterwards. At the other end, Jack Batten headed wide while McLean saw an effort saved for Hereford.
In the 84th minute, Kouhyar showed neat footwork before shooting wide, while in stoppage time, Bath had a penalty appeal turned down.
Overall, the game will be remembered for the two poor goals conceded on Hereford's part. Brandon Hall head a rush of blood to the head for the first goal and the Bulls were easily cut open for the second, with Cooke having all the time in the world to score. To their credit, the second half performance was ok, with Kouhyar again showing his promise. He is a player who the fans can definitely get behind come the new season. It is a worry that only 15 players are signed on though with five trialists again part of the squad just a week before the first league game. It is imperative that Storey and Vincent's signatures are rubber-stamped as soon as possible as they need match time. The first game of the 2021/2022 season is at home to Farsley Celtic next Saturday (August 14).
Hereford: Hall, Hodgkiss, Hancox, Haines, Trialist, Pollock, Lloyd, Klukowski, Owen-Evans, McLean, Trialist. Subs: Forsyth, Kouhyar, Trialist, Trialist, Trialist.