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| A First Hereford Goal For Kameron Muir - Picture From Steve Nibblet |
Match report – Morecambe FC v Hereford FC – 10th November 2026
One of the more imaginative songs from the travelling Bulls faithful, sung to a tune just about recognisable as “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” included the refrain “win away, win away, we always win away”. Well, not quite, but the Bulls certainly had chances to put the game out of reach of the home side in an excellent spell in the second half, before Morecambe got back into it. In the end it could have gone either way and the scoreline seemed a fair reflection of the balance of play.
The Bulls lined up with Theo in goal as always, and with Hudson now fully fit and Skinner nursing a hamstring tweak, the back four was James, Howkins, Merrett and Hudson. The midfield was, using current terminology Kandola, Tustin & Spokes in the 6, 8, and 10 roles respectively. Iwunze was the main striker with Martin and Muir wide right and left. The latter two dropped deeper when we were out of possession, so the formation flexed between 4-3-3 and 4-5-1. After his 2 goals at Chorley, Cox might have expected a start but he remained on the bench.
The first action was a free kick conceded by Spokes which was a comfortable save for Richardson. Kandola then had a low shot from outside the area which was pushed away for a corner by the home goalkeeper. Then Spokes broke away down the left and with Morecambe hesitating thinking he had fouled, Spokes struck a low cross across the face of the goal with no-one in position to tap it home.
Hereford continued to press but then fell behind to Morecambe’s first real chance of the game. After some good interplay down the left, Daly curled an excellent shot into the top corner. Richardson could do little about that, but it’s worth saying that the Morecambe attack sprang from a badly misplaced Hereford header near halfway, so in that respect it was entirely avoidable.
From that point on Hereford’s game became sloppy and a bit aimless. The only tactic seemed to be knocking it over the top hoping that Iwunze could get on the end of it, but the home defence was too well organised for that to succeed.
Howkins and the Shrimps’ number 9, Garner were battling away all night, and the ref had to speak to them both, which of course made no difference whatsoever. We all know how Howkins plays, and he loves the physical challenge. Sometimes I think he enjoys the wrestling too much to the extent of ignoring the ball, but I’m glad he’s ours.
Neither side created much for the rest of the first half, at last the Bulls started to put a few passes together, but without threatening to score.
Half time: Morecambe 1 Hereford 0
In his post match interview Downes said that the team hadn’t really committed to playing the way he wanted to and he had to “reaffirm” his message. He also mentioned that he made some tactical adjustments which he was not going to share with us. I could see that James was dropping into the middle of the back four when the home side attacked down the left side of the Bulls’ defence, which was most of the time. Presumably Martin was expected to cover the right flank when James did that. It was pointed out to me that Kandola was then able to play further forward and down the right side of midfield which enabled him to escape the attentions of Morecambe’s midfield who had subdued him for most of the first 45 minutes.
All of that made a big difference, Hereford came out for the second half in a much more positive mood. Muir crossed for Iwunze but his looping header didn’t bother the keeper. Then it could have all gone very badly when Morecambe had a three on one breakaway but thankfully a poor touch allowed Hereford to recover.
On the 51st minute Hereford won a corner. The ball was partially cleared but only to Spokes, who lofted it back into the box where it bounced and bobbed around before Hudson managed to connect and scramble it into the net to make it 1-1. Only 4 minutes later Hereford won the ball in the opposition half and Spokes advanced before feeding the ball to Muir on his left. The young loanee cut in on the goal before scoring with a low shot, his first goal for the club.
For Morecambe Lewis had a header on target from a free kick forcing a low save from Theo, who seemed to be wrong footed at first, making it all a bit more dramatic than it needed to be. Then Hereford had two good chances. Firstly, Iwunze broke down the left and hit a powerful shot on target, but the angle wasn’t good and the keeper had it covered, with Tustin in position on the far post a cross might have been better. A couple of minutes later Tustin made an excellent run, also choosing to shoot rather than pass and his powerful effort smacked against the crossbar.
Having had chances to put the game to bed the Bulls suddenly found themselves pegged back. Neill, with almost his first touch since coming on as sub slipped an excellent through ball to Daly who netted comfortably for his second of the game. The rest of the game was a flurry of substitutions and goal mouth action at both ends. Either side could have won it, but neither could find the vital touch to finish the game off.
Full time: Morecambe 2 Hereford 2
Hereford: Richardson, Hudson, Kandola, Merrett (Phillips 85), Martin (Cox 72), Tustin (Bitemo 90), Spokes, James, Iwunze (Waldron 90), Howkins, Muir (Holmes 76)
Subs: Willis, Lewis
Morecambe: Boney, Coxe, Williams, Hogan, Baines, Collins, Garner, Daly, Lewis, Cain, Curley
Subs: Scales, Newby, Buckley-Ricketts, Neill, O'Kane, Blois, Davis
Attendance 2114 with 146 in the away area.
Overall, a point each seems about right. After a poor first half Hereford dominated for the first 25-30 minutes of the second, and the effort and commitment was impressive. Downes sounded disappointed overall, not content with the draw.
Man of the match? Two contenders for me: Howkins and Spokes. The big man didn’t miss a header all night and gave Garner a real battering. I think Garner was quite relieved to be substituted. Spokes used the ball well and beat the right back several times and got good crosses in, and overall did a good job as the midfield playmaker.
Downes praised the fans for their commitment and non-stop singing and chanting, and he made sure that the players came across and got close to the supporters to acknowledge them. There’s a good bond with the fans at the moment and it’s good to see it appreciated.
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