Hereford started as follows in a 4-4-2: Richardson, Quansah, Howkins, Preston, Skinner, Nto, D’ath, Mafuta, Sterling-James, Wreh, Campbell
This is the third different formation that Paul Caddis has put into practice over the course of pre-season and his side controlled possession at the start of the game without either side really creating any chances. A couple of balls flashed across the Hereford goal from Alvechurch long throws and Tope Obadeyi had a shot that was blocked well by Kyle Howkins but for the first 20 minutes or so neither keeper was tested.
On 20 minutes, Lawson D’ath did really well to intercept the ball in midfield and slide Eno Nto through on goal from the right-hand side but his shot was saved by the legs of Banks in the Alvechurch net.
Three minutes later, an Omari Sterling-James corner met the head of Keenan Quansah 5 yards out, but his effort just went over the bar.
A first real chance for Church then came just after when Shay Willock’s header forced Richardson into tipping the ball over for a corner.
Unfortunately, a break-in-play then occurred which saw debutant Chris Wreh have to come off. It didn’t look anything too serious so hopefully just a precaution as he looked bright in the short period he was on the pitch for, dropping in and linking play well. A trialist replaced him.
At the 35-minute mark another Sterling-James set piece again met the head of Quansah, who this time put the ball in the back of the net but was judged to be offside. There were no appeals from the Hereford players so I’ll give the linesman the benefit of the doubt on this one.
No changes at the break for the Bulls who started the second half the better of the two teams as an Eno Nto cross found the feet of Remaye Campbell who couldn’t quite sort his feet, the ball then fell to Sterling-James who hit a ferocious shot towards goal, but it was blocked well by Krystian Pearce.
Paul Caddis’ men then struggled to apply any more pressure at all really for the rest of the half. Alvechurch had a flurry of shots that tested Theo in goal but he made them look rather comfortable. On 64 minutes Eno Nto then saw red for a second yellow card which meant the Bulls had to play with 10 men for the second game in a row.
What I will say is the second yellow was fair, but no one really knows what his first one was for which was the case for a lot of bookings given out by this referee. Eno will learn to not dive in like that when on a yellow, and I’d much rather he learns from it now than during the season.
The game sort of fizzled out from there with Hereford putting in a really positive defensive performance but desperately struggled to create many chances in the game which is a worry. I’d also say fitness wise they looked behind Alvechurch even before the red card which could be the result of a rather stop-start pre-season.
There were a few positives though I thought the back line played really well, Aaron Skinner in particular I thought was impressive. Before his red card Nto looked again a real threat, as well as D’ath and Mafuta continuing to build a strong looking partnership.
Overall, a lot of players got through their first 90 minutes which is a good thing, but the Bulls did look disjointed at times which is expected with a fair number of new players playing.
I personally don’t want to see us set up in a 4-4-2 from now, I’ve never seen us play well in it, the midfield gets overran which isn’t a reflection of the players more the fact that they are outnumbered in there.
Anyway, more minutes in the tank as we build towards Spennymoor, now onto our last friendly where we head down south to Chippenham on Saturday.
#COYW
By Jack Pugh