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Substitute Edwards Keeps Control Of The Ball
Andy Woods reports from the Pims Park:
Peterborough Sports manager Phil Brown has been on football’s roller coaster with us. It’s a mighty long way down rock n roll from him serenading supporters on the pitch and winning Premiership manager of the month in September 2008 as Hull City won away at Arsenal and Spurs. Word was that, last season, he lost the changing room at Kiddie, well it’s a portakabin round the back at Peterborough Sports so no danger of that here. But you climb up the mountains and you fall down the holes. The Mighty Whites, well we ended September 2008 going down narrowly 1-0 at Elland Road in the league and now we don’t even have a pitch we can play on.
The pitch at Edgar Street has always been a source of pride – from being the widest in the football league in the 70s to simply being the only pitch with visible grass in February in the Conference North up until now, so it’s a shame that its adding to our woes in a pretty woeful season.
When the fixtures came out I was looking forward to watching Peterborough Sports away next April in a t shirt, but now because of that Edgar Street pitch, and the fixture swop, here we are again. Back in one of our happier hunting grounds where we’ve won on our last two league visits.
The statement on Peterborough Sports website on Saturday morning “Here you will find regularly updated fixtures and match details for the 2025/26 campaign” followed by the listing for today’s game still at Edgar Street didn’t inspire confidence in their ability to conduct an 8:30am pitch inspection. But they did and it was OK, so here we are.
The Whites, playing in all blue with yellow socks started brightly enough with Skinner sliding the ball to Williams in the six-yard box where he couldn’t make himself enough space to get a shot away.
We managed to force a couple of early corners and with the second of them Sterling James found Hudson running in unmarked at the edge of the box but he couldn’t make anything of it.
Sports won a freekick with the young Luca Miller blasting over the bar from a free kick 25 yards out after a foul on Jones by Sterling James.
But the first half followed a scrappy pattern with neither side stringing moves together or having a player who could put his foot on the ball and work an opening.
Osborne again looked the most likely for Hereford and managed to set Skinner free with a nice ball through the channels but a last ditch tackle resulted in a corner which Sterling James hit directly into the side netting. From the goal kick Peterborough broke rapidly at the other end with Kaine blasting over the bar.
On 35 minutes Osborne made one of his jinky runs across the Peterborough 18 yard line resulting in a tap on his ankle and a great position for a Sterling James freekick. Good placement towards the top corner to the left of the keeper but not enough power and a good save – Hereford’s first shot on target with a third of the game already gone.
Two poor teams and a poor referee who missed the Peterborough keeper handling the ball outside his area on twenty-eight minutes but his booking of Osborne on 38 minutes looked about right. Osborne tried a little bit too hard to kick the ball trapped under a Peterborough player but the booking was really for his repeated running arguments with the ref before that.
With a crowd of less than 300 it was easy to catch most of what was being said on the pitch. Willo’s cry of “He’s gone down like a shit again” when the young Peterborough tyro swallow dived was enjoyed by the crowd who like a bit of panto at this time of year. But as the half wore on it was also noticeable how little was being said on the pitch – the lack of confidence in the Hereford side showing itself in a lack of chat and encouragement and verbal leadership.
Peterborough weren’t creating much either, but on 39 minutes their winger Wood shot across the goal from a wide angle when he should have hit the target.
On 44 minutes a short throw from Hudson to Osborne found Mafuta in space in the middle of the goal about 25 yards out and whilst he got his shot on target it was an easy save for the Peterborough keeper.
Half time came with neither side deserving a goal.
The second half continued the mediocrity but Hereford started to find a little bit more space and on 48 minutes Williams hit a snapshot wide of the post from outside of the area. Five minutes later he set Hamilton free with a ball that gave him the goal to run at but Hamilton had no acceleration and Peterborough’s defence easily mopped up.
Williams does now seem be as fit as I have seen him in a Hereford shirt since he returned from his career. He covered a lot of ground and is one of the few talkers and shouters on the pitch in a Hereford shirt. But he also seems to be frustrated and on 56 minutes he hammered the ball into the empty terraces after being foiled by the close attentions of a Peterborough defender as he tried to turn. Less petulance and bringing someone else into the move might have had a better result.
On 61 minutes another Sterling-James free kick hit the wall and fell to Williams who hooked a strong shot just over the bar and on 64 minutes he found more space outside the box and again shot wide.
It was end to end stuff but not much quality and neither side looked likely to score. Sterling-James broke through but was forced wide by the recovering Wood and couldn’t get a shot away.
Then on 69 minutes a goal that really didn’t belong here. A break on the right and the ball slides to Mafuta in the middle on the edge of the box – a carbon copy of the chance he had late in the first half – but this time it sat up nicely and he lashed it into the top corner giving the keeper no chance. A shot and goal from a better game than the one we were watching. Neither side looked like scoring until we did and if Peterborough had scored an unlikely goal first then they may well have gone on to win it too.
A minute later and a Howkins foul on the edge of the box gives Miller a freekick view of goal but he hits it straight into Robinson’s midriff.
On seventy-three minutes Caddis begins to wind down the clock with a slow-moving double substitution with Jaiden White on for Sam Osborne and I-Lani Edwards coming on for McFarlane. Thankfully not defensive substitutions, as we know how well it goes when we try to sit on a slender lead. White & Edwards are both good players to bring off the bench to run at a young and tiring defence and for the first time in the game Hereford started to play with some confidence with players wanting the ball and creating space.
White gave some glimmers of the player he had been for us last season, turning defenders and drawing fouls, maybe he is now ready to start alongside Williams and offer a better response to Willo’s flick-ons than McFarlane has managed. Edwards, as we know, has skill to burn and on 80 minutes went on a dribble, in from the right touchline weaving through the whirring Turbines and slotting the ball across the keeper into the far corner. Another lovely one.
Peterborough, who had won their last two games had no response and not having tested Robinson before they didn’t manage it now.
On 84 minutes Sterling-James had another free kick from a dangerous position from 25 yards but it was easily saved by the keeper. Like the rest of the team he is not playing with the confidence of earlier this season and whilst Hereford were very good at getting free kicks today in dangerous positions these, and a succession of poor corners, came to very little.
On 90 minutes Sterling-James went off for Matt Richards and on 93 Williams went off for Nto who had a half chance in the box from his first touch and almost scored. Hudson got booked for time-wasting and the ref finally blew on 96 minutes having given no indication of minutes added-on and not a lot of evidence of knowing what day it was.
Three points that take us out of the relegation zone – swopping places with Peterborough on goal difference. But Peterborough were a poor side and so were we, and a team with a cutting edge would have ripped through us so like so many have done this season.
At the back it was a rare clean sheet but at times a lot of basic line-clearing just isn’t happening and the ball is left bobbing around our area. Howkins is heavily strapped and Mafuta limps.
But a win is a win after no league win in seven. We have some very talented players who are not playing as a team. Some tough games coming up over the next month. After last season I had hoped that Peterborough away next April would be a sun-drenched promotion party. I think we might settle for mid table when we play them at Edgar Street in April.