A look back to August 23 2008 and a League One game at Bristol Rovers.
Bulls Blitzed at Bristol
I'll warn you now, this ain't nice but you can only tell it as you see it.
Following
back to back defeats against what many considered to be poor Orient and
Yeovil sides, The Bulls were completely destroyed today by a half
decent Rovers outfit. If the warning bells were audible in the distance
before kick-off, they were certainly almost deafeningly in full chime
by six minutes past three.
Surprisingly, Turner named the same
starting XI as he did against Yeovil and it wasn't long before the same
frailties were exposed. Just two minutes into the game, a forward ball
that was no more than a hopeful punt eluded the normally composed
Beckwith and Duffy strode forward to finish passed the stranded Sampson.
Less than three minutes later it was two. Former Rochdale striker
Ricky Lambert received the ball unchallenged about 35 diagonal yards
from the left of the goal. He had time to turn, make ten yards, look up
and send a curling effort to the right and over Sampson. Whilst it has
to be said that the execution was good, he should never have been
allowed the time and space that he had. They say that Dame Fortune
favours the brave but the good lady was best described as charitable
when Duffy struck the foot of the post on the eighth minute. For The
Bulls, Diagouraga struck a decent shot at Pirates stopper Philips before
both Guinan and Threlfall had crosses collected by Philips.
Hereford
managed a short period of competing in the game although the threat on
the Bristol goal was minimal as Guinans efforts to create space appear
to be wasted on a lack-lustre Ashikodi. On 22 minutes, the game was
effectively over as a contest when Duffy stabbed his second past Sampson
from 15 yards. Again, there was a lack of closing down in a critical
area. Readers will be excused for thinking that Bristol were running
riot and having a much greater share of the ball. The stark fact is
that they weren't...they just did simple things well, made space and
finished. The difference was emphasised when the hard working Guinan
worked an opening, which seemed to completely avoid the attention of
co-striker Ashikodi. Oji needlessly got himself into the Ref's book
when he kicked the ball away after being penalised before Ben Smith
tested Philips from the edge of the box. As half-time approached,
Guinan once again showed good example by chasing down a ball to exert
pressure on the Rovers back line.
HT Rovers 3 HUFC 0
The
start of the second period saw the introduction Bradley Hudson-Odoi in
place of the ineffective Ashikodi. However, any hopes of salvaging
something from the fixture were almost immediately dashed Jeff Hughes
cut into the box from the left to fire into the net. Terrace
frustration was increasing as decent central midfield play all too
frequently got frittered away by the wide attackers. Johnson, in
particular, seemed guilty of running into opposition defenders or
miss-placing his passes while Easton was simply beaten for pace. Ben
Smith and HUFC man of the match Diagouraga did work tirelessly but must
be frustrated by the lack of quality around them. With visiting Bulls
fans, by this time, resorting to half hearted comedy chant attempts;
Turner made a belated double substitution with just over fifteen minutes
remaining when Matty Done and Jack MacLeod replaced a flagging Easton
and the frustrating Johnson. Hudson-Odoi, meanwhile, was proving far
more of a handful up top and forced a corner which MacLeod crossed for
Beckwith to head goalward. Unfortunately, his effort was blocked on the
goal-line by a defender. At the other end, a clumsy challenge was
penalised and Lambert curled the resultant free kick around the wall and
passed Sampson to put The Gas on five. With just three minutes of
normal time left, Rose conceded another free kick and this time Chris
Lines stepped forward to rifle home from 30 yards. The visitors terrace
responded with a rousing chorus of "Turner, Turner what’s the score"
while The Gaffer simply scratched his head. The late introduction of
Done had provided some much lacking penetration and it was from his left
flank that a ball arrived in the danger area to enable Steve Guinan to
poke home a consolation goal with just a minute of time left.
FT Rovers 6 HUFC 1
After
three defeats from three League games, it's becoming all too clear that
the squad simply ain't good enough. More worrying is form of one or
two players of whom better is expected and it is hoped that a few
urgently needed additions will help rekindle the form and reliability of
last season.
Attendance 6735 (588 Bulls)
Bristol Rovers: Phillips, Pipe, Anthony, Elliot, Lescott, Lines, Campbell, Disley, Hughes, Lambert, Duffy.
Subs: Hinton, Williams, Green, Hunt, Rigg.
Hereford United: Samson, Rose, Beckwith, Oji, Threlfall, Johnson, Diagouraga, Smith, Easton, Ashikodi, Guinan.
Subs: Randolph, Hudson-Odoi, Taylor, MacLeod, Done.
Game over after four minutes admits Turner
The
Hereford United manager, interviwed after this afternoon's game at
Bristol Rovers was frank with his assessment of the proceedings.
"The game was effectively over after four minutes," Graham Turner told BBC Hereford and Worcester.
"We got caught cold. We made some basic defending errors.
"I've
got to say you look at the game as a whole and three of their strikes
went in from twenty yards plus. It's not very pleasant when that
happens. It was one of those days when they are flying in from all over
the place.
"It's an unforgiving League. Once you go higher you
get punished for any mistakes and you get punished for being out of
position even only by a yard or two. That was the case today.
"It's
no good slaughtering the players - there was a lot of honest endeavour -
but we had great difficulty contending with their front players. We
couldn't control them.
"Giving two free kicks away was just part
of the poor defending. That's the penalty you play for that lack of
discipline at times.
"There are one or two, or more than one or
two, players in there at the moment who are not performing as well as
they did last season."
Turner hopes to add to Squad
The
need to add to the Hereford United squad was very evident this afternoon
at the Memorial Ground. And manager Graham Turner is still hoping for
new faces before the transfer window closes as he explained to BBC
Hereford and Worcester.
"I think what has happened is that a
number of players we've spoken to waiting for bigger clubs to come in.
Now as it is getting nearer the deadline, I get the impression that they
are beginning to think more seriously about us.
"I've got to say
that results like todays doesn't help our cause in attracting players.
One or two might look and think I don't want to go into a struggling
side.
"We've had more positive vibes over the last three days than in the previous part of August.
"Players
are now realising that perhaps the clubs they were expecting are not
going to offer them anything ot take them on loan, so there is a
chance."