It was a return to winning ways at Meadow Lane yesterday evening as The Bulls survived a late onslaught to bring home the goose and three hard earned points. For the 306 Hereford fans who made the trip, it was a typical roller coaster ride of big dipper highs and thrills. Two quality goals from showman Steve Guinan and a stunning opener from dodging Ben Smith topped the strikes of Counties' Silk and Sam before Hereford had their fans on the edge of their seats in the closing moments with some helter-skelter defending in the final minutes.
Bulls boss Graham Turner made a couple of changes to his starting eleven flowing the disappointment of Saturdays performance at Grimsby with Trent McClenahanahan and Theo Robinson coming in for Benjamin and Rose. Whilst the decision to rest Rosey was a little surprising, as he had done little wrong it does emphasise the competitive nature of this year's squad. A corner as early as the first minute came and went without reward as the Bulls quickly grasped control of the game with some early probes while shortly afterwards, Ainsworth was defending to block for a corner at the other end as the game passed the ten minute mark. As another County attack broke down, United stormed upfield to score the opening goal. Easton received the ball from a defensive clearance and his clever chipped pass over the full back found Ben Smith advancing toward the Notts goal. Smith dinked inside the remaining defender before firing past keeper Pilkington from the edge of the box. Although County had their share of possession, it was Hereford who looked far more dangerous and ten minutes after the goal a glorious passing movement started by Diagouraga saw Guinan peel away from his marker and send in a deep cross which unfortunately evaded Robinson and Ainsworth as they closed in on the goal. In the 26th minute Hereford scored an absolute blinder of a goal to double their lead. Taylor found Guinan who cleverly worked his way passed a couple of central players before threading the ball wide to Robinson. Theo drew the full back and then crossed for Stevie G to meet with a thumping header, which left Pilkington staring at the stars. At the other end, Jason Lee was, as expected, receiving plenty of aerial service and won his share of headers but the County attack in the first half was no match for the guile of Guinan and the pace of Robinson. As the half drew to a close, Lee was noticeably "putting it about" but his pushes and elbows were met by a resolute Beckwith and Broadhurst who were clearly not in the mood to give in to his bully-boy tactics.
Notts opened the second period a little more brightly and Brown was forced into his first real save of the game just after the restart when he tipped a rasping shot from Neil MacKenzie over the bar. An outswinging corner from the right taken by Ainsworth caused concern in the County goalmouth as the combined heads of Beckwith and Broady powered a header just over. The Bulls were pegged back 18 minutes into the half when a MacKenzie free kick was deflected off the wall to Gary Silk whose own effort took another deflection passed Wayne Brown into the net. Any anxiety that was evident in the visitor's seats was short lived (for a while) as The Bulls soon restored the two-goal lead. Diagouraga produced a gem of a through ball and Guinan showed real pace over 35 yards to burst passed two defenders and coolly slot the ball low into the corner of the net. With fifteen minutes remaining, County brought it back to 3-2 when McClenaclenahan was caught to far from substitute Hector Sam who fired in at the near post. Luke Webb came on for a tiring Lionel Ainsworth and provided welcome fresh legs. In fact, he came close to scoring when Guinan’s deflected shot fell to him. Although he had his back to goal, a spectacular overhead shot flashed just inched wide of the post. Diagouraga also saw an effort blocked by a pedestrian Nottingham defender before a final push from County saw several hasty clearances in front of keeper Wayne Brown as fans suffered the final ride on The Ghost Train. However, despite the referee magically producing four added minutes to a half that had not seen the trainer, the Bulls players were delighted to hear both the final whistle and the appreciative applause from the travelling 306 amongst a total of 3576 who attended.
Bring on the Brentford……..see you at The Street on Saturday
Notts County: Pilkington, Canoville (Silk 56), Tann, Hunt, Mayo, Somner, MacKenzie, Butcher, Parkinson (Sam 61), Dudfield, Lee (Weir-Daley 53) Subs Not Used: Sandercombe, McCann
Hereford United: Brown, McClenahan, Broadhurst, Beckwith, Taylor, Ainsworth (Webb 81), Diagouraga, Smith, Easton, Guinan, Robinson. Subs Not Used: Ingham, McCombe, Rose, Benjamin.