Who on earth at National League headquarters thought it was bright idea to schedule a whole round of fixtures against the last 16 of the World Cup. Next week Hereford potentially go up against Brazil v Argentina which with a similar cold evening could see the first sub one thousand attendance for a Hereford FC league fixture. Hopefully there’s time for this to be addressed rather than seeing another £10,000 or more of revenue thrown away. 1,110 attended against Chorley with three Lancastrians.
Hereford made one change McLean returning from suspension to replace Storey. Eve; Melhado, Haines (c), Thompson, Evans; Hanson; McLean, Thompson-Sommers, Rus, Holmes; Barnett. Substitutes: Pinchard, Storey, Pendley, Dinanga, Latty-Fairweather. The strongest bench Hereford have had for several weeks.
The game was open with both sides evenly matched. McLean was looking lively and burst through but could not beat the impressive Urwin. Chorley targeted Rus the referee not understanding the rotational fouling of Marcus.
Rus glides over the ground and rides challenges well but will receive a lot of “treatment” in this division. He looks capable of a similar career to former loanee Tom Barkhuizen. Blakeman was booked for a tactical hand ball as the Bulls broke away.
Hereford’s best chance fell just before the break. Another impressive driving Rus run sucked in defenders and his shot was blocked for a corner.
Swung in Thompson-Sommers hit the post from close range when it seemed easier to score. KTS hit the rebound and Urwin saved well.
At half time Hereford had been marginally better but had not been able to convert this into goals. Hanson was booked and it seemed a referee evening things up. Gradually Hereford took control and for about twenty minutes battered the Magpies. The two Jacks were in fine form and Holmes was sublime at times. His control, twisting, turning and trickery were a delight. The same manoeuvre kept beating the same flummoxed defenders a sure sign of quality. He got into the box but could never quite finish or find the killer ball, at times because no team mate made a near post or other obvious run.
Ustabasi was booked for pulling back Melhado. Melhado had another good game and crossed to find Rus whose header was palmed out by Urwin, Rus reacting to stab home for a deserved lead and it looked as if Hereford would go on to win comfortably.
With Chorley now chasing the game it seemed the perfect opportunity to catch the Magpies on the break. Latty-Fairweather came on for Melhado. It was surprising to see McLean off and Dinanga on with Storey’s speed available. Chorley replaced Henley with Owens and then Johnson came on for Shenton.
Urwin had an impressive evening making good saves from Dinanga and Haines. Although Chorley were trying the Bulls were clearly superior. KTS was booked for tactically fouling Wilson. Chorley won a corner in injury time and Gowling took off Holmes who received an ovation with Pendley on.
 |
| Jack Holmes's Shot Went Inches Wide |
Blakeman’s corner was fired in, former Bull Harvey Smith ran across and ahead of Thompson-Sommers to glance home into the far corner and steal a point.
Chorley started taking time out of the game again and brought on Nolan for Hall.
 |
| Free Kick? |
A cruel result from a good performance and a second half spell which was some of the best football played by the Bulls this season. The combination of McLean, Rus and Holmes is exciting. Rus was the sponsors man of the match and is a real talent. However, Holmes was unplayable for a period and had a fine game and would be my choice. It is nice to have a difficult decision to make between two thrilling youngsters.