Wednesday, October 01, 2025

Tudors get the pizzas in but boss admits being thrown by Hereford's team

Lee Allison said keeper Michael Johnson didn't have to make loads of saves
There was a bumper pizza delivery at Edgar Street last night as Hemel Hempstead Town celebrated knocking Hereford out of the FA Cup.

A goal from an indirect free kick inside the box before netting twice in injury time meant the Hertfordshire side secured a fourth qualifying round home tie against National League side Yeovil.

But as the National League South outfit enjoyed pizzas in the away dressing room after bagging £5,625 in prize money and a shot at £9,375 in 10 days' time, boss Lee Allison was praising the performance.


While Hereford are beset by injury problems and had to drop Andy Williams and Matt Richards, Allison also had a team selection headache with a number of players out.

Both sides lined up differently compared to Saturday's 2-2 draw, with Allison saying: "We both played a bit of cat and mouse tonight, us and their manager. We've gone 3-5-2, they've gone 4-3-3 and it just threw us a little bit.

"We thought that they'd stick to what they had. They never, they put pace in their side, we put pace in the side and legs. Once we got back to our shape, I thought we were very good and we snuffed them out then, I felt.

"They've hit the bar twice. One was a deflection, one was a fantastic strike and I think the lad should've score a rebound, but other than that, MJ [keeper Michael Johnson] hasn't had to make loads of saves."

He said while it wasn't the best performance since he joined the club in December, it was the best result with togetherness, willingness to run and work hard and to outrun Hereford.

"I say it every week, our fitness levels are unbelievable," he said of his part-time side, with players have to take days off or half-days to get on the team coach at 2pm. "We knew the first goal was really important."

He said that it was intense playing in front of the Meadow End and said Hereford were a good side, forcing the Tudors to weather the storm in the first half, aiming for 0-0 at half-time.

But he praised the 16 Hemel Hempstead fans who made the 300-mile round trip for the Tuesday night replay.

"It doesn't matter if there's one or a thousand, just to make that journey and give up their time and their effort to pay to watch us.

"I hope tonight that we've given them something to go and remember because this is stooped in FA Cup glory at this ground and we've come here tonight and done a good job on them, a very, very good job on them and that was a fantastic, fantastic result."

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