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| Former Bull Harvey Smith Can’t Keep Out Miles Story\"s Lob Over The Keeper |
“We need to start picking up results”, said Josh Gowling ahead of this match against high-flying Chorley, with Hereford one from bottom of Vanarama North.
And that’s exactly what they did, a crucial 1-0 win in a closely fought encounter.
While Hereford are struggling for goals and points, Chorley travelled to Edgar Street on a run of eleven games unbeaten. Gowling started experienced defender Krystian Pearce who was unveiled at the end of August, with Brandon Hall resuming in goal, and Ryan McLean and Ryan Lloyd coming into the starting eleven. Kick-off was delayed by fifteen minutes because the Chorley team were stuck in traffic travelling to Edgar Street.
An impeccably observed minute’s silence marked Remembrance Matchday before the game got underway. Chorley - wearing their green away strip - had the best of the early exchanges with Harry Cardwell’s effort going wide after good work by Connor Hall, but Hereford forced the first corner after a good passage led to Tom Owen-Evans’ shot was deflected over.
Hall was well placed in the Hereford goal to keep Chorley at bay after 15 minutes, also dealing with the subsequent corner. As the half progressed, both sides created openings. Brandon Hall was the busier of the two goalkeepers, parrying away a shot after work by Cardwell, with the follow-up from Mike Calveley charged down. At the other end, Chorley goalkeeper Matt Urwin made a good save with the resulting corner headed just wide by Luke Haines. Then McLean twisted and turned to fire inches over, as Hereford created an opening. With seven minutes remaining of the first half, a long ball found Miles Storey but he drove wide from an acute angle.
The Bulls finished a pretty even first half as the stronger side, with Hereford lacking the clinical edge in front of goal.
At the start of the second half, Tom Owen-Evans forced a corner with a tricky ball into the Chorley box. Then minutes later, Chorley drove in a strong cross for Connor Hall to head at Bulls’ goalkeeper Brandon Hall who pushed it away for a corner.
Energetic McLean made an impression for Hereford, as he surged forward over the half way line with an excellent run, avoiding several challenges but ended up too wide to get in a shot, so a defender was able to clear for a corner. Tom Owen-Evans also had a long-range shot that went narrowly wide.
With twenty minutes remaining a clash of heads as Hereford looked to clear a Chorley corner led to Ben Pollock needing treatment. The Bulls brought on Maziar Kouyhar to inject some fresh legs into the side. Both teams played the second half at a pacy tempo, as they looked to break the deadlock.
And with ten minutes to go, that team was Hereford! Miles Storey surged forward to latch onto a pass, chipped the advancing goalkeeper for the ball to loop into the net, despite the efforts of defender Harvey Smith frantically aiming to clear it off the line.
The Bulls had chances to double their advantage, particularly when McLean had an opportunity in the area, while Chorley also made substitutions to find a way back into the game. In the nine and a half minutes of added time, Owen-Evans and Storey connected but a Chorley defender blocked the effort, as Hereford earned a crucial three points.
Overall, the Bulls improved as the game went on, with Pearce clearly adding experience and grit to the Hereford defence. Hopefully this is a result to build upon for Josh Gowling’s side, who move up to 18th in the table.
Hereford: Hall, Hodgkiss (capt), Haines (Kouyhar, 76), Pearce, McLean (Andoh, 90), Owen-Evans, Storey, Lloyd, Pollock, Smith, Fini. Subs: Whittingham, Charles, Sodeinde.
Chorley: Urwin, Henley, Smith, Leather (Blakeman, 43), Baines, Whitehouse, Calveley, Cardwell (Blyth, 86), Tomlinson (Alli, 83), Ustabasi, Hall. Subs: Shenton, Goodridge.
Referee: Thomas Kirk
Attendance: 1,756