Hereford United have moved to the bottom of League One today following a 2-1 away defeat at play-off chasing Tranmere Rovers. The hosts found themselves two goals to the good in the first half with Bas Savage scoring the first before Charlie Barnett placed a shot into the top corner to make it two. Hereford were given hope when Ian Goodison was shown a straight red card but they could only score a late consolation penalty through Steve Guinan in front of 5,945 at Prenton Park.
Changes were enforced for United with Richard Jackson, Karl Broadhurst and Febian Brandy missing out due to injury. In came Sam Gwynne at right-back, Stephen O'Leary in central midfield and Matt Done in on left-wing. Jennison Myrie-Williams partnered Guinan up front whilst there was a place in central defence for Toumani Diagouraga. Ronnie Moore handed his son, Ian Moore, a place up front alongside the 'moon-walking' Bas Savage whilst Steve Jennings started in central midfield against a team he had a loan spell with in 2007.
Rovers came close to opening their account in the first couple of minutes when a Ryan Shotton cross wasn't gathered by Peter Gulacsi and it fell to Antony Kay whose goalbound effort was deflected behind by O'Leary. From the quick corner that followed, a powerful shot by Jennings was off-target. Tranmere took the lead in the 8th minute when a goal kick from Danny Coyne was flicked on by Savage, ahead of Diagouraga allowing Moore to control. The striker then returned a pass to Savage, who had run in behind the defence and into the box, taking a touch to control before shooting between Gulacsi's legs and into the net. The home side continued to dominate proceedings against a lacklustre Hereford team with Andy Taylor firing a free-kick over after a mis-timed Diagouraga lunge, which saw the Frenchman booked for his troubles.
The impressive Ryan Shotton at right-back ventured forward into a central position and from 25 yards struck a right-foot shot goalwards which was caught by Gulacsi whilst an Edrissa Sonko effort was heading on-target but a good defensive block denied the winger. Tranmere added a second when they won a corner on the left-wing; it was taken short and eventually made its way into the box where a Rovers player layed the ball off for Barnett who delightfully curled into the top corner out of the reach of Gulacsi. Hereford finally mustered up a shot on goal towards the end of the half when Myrie-Williams won a free-kick 25 yards out; Richard Rose touched it for Marc Pugh to shoot but his shot was well parried by Coyne before a clearence was made.
At half-time, Gareth Edds replaced Jennings in what we assume was an injury to the defensive midfielder. Defensive frailties cost Hereford on Saturday and they were again exploited when Gwynne was tackled on his own area by Savage who found Kay 20 yards but the midfielder's drilled effort was well blocked by Gulacsi. At the other end, with the help of the wind, Hereford began to create one or two opportunities with a good move allowing Pugh to cross towards the back-post from the right where Guinan headed down for O'Leary, who had made a run into the box but he couldn't get sufficient power to his header and Coyne managed to tip the ball around the post. Good link-up play between Sonko and Savage with a one-two saw the former race into the box away from Ben Smith before firing into the side netting with his right-foot before Tranmere were reduced to ten men. The ball broke loose away from Pugh and he went into a challenge with Goodison, who appeared to show his studs. The referee was quick to produce a red card although the away supporters weren't sure who it had been shown to but it soon became clear that Goodison had been given his marching orders.
The Bulls began to dominate possession and show a little more attacking intent with Guinan firing well over after a cross from Kris Taylor wasn't cleared. Jack Macleod and Simon Johnson were introduced with just seven minutes remaining for Pugh and Done respectively. These changes co-incided with Hereford putting pressure on the Rovers box. A neat move from right to left saw a cross-field pass helped on by Guinan to the run of Johnson on the left and his sliced cross looked to be looping in before A. Taylor headed it out for a corner. Guinan shot into the side netting from an acute angle after a through ball from Smith before in stoppage-time, Hereford were awarded a soft penalty. Johnson fed Myrie-Williams with a pass through the defence and the Bristol City loanee, who did very little throughout the match, went down under a soft challenge from Shotton. A penalty was awarded and with the last kick of the game, Guinan shot into the top corner from 12 yards to make the game look a little closer than it truely was.
United live to fight another day but the day relegation is confirmed will surely come on Saturday when Colchester United visit Edgar Street. A make-shift team failed to cope with Tranmere in the first-half and showed little fight until after the red card was shown to Goodison. Hereford's best player on the day was Pugh, who showed imagination and creativity when on the ball but this failed to be matched by his team-mates. When Johnson was introduced, he showed some intelligent touches and Hereford looked more of a threat. The former Leeds man needs the opportunity to prove his worth to the club before the end of the season.
Hereford: Gulacsi, Gwynne, Rose, Diagouraga, Taylor, Pugh, Smith, O'Leary, Done, Myrie-Williams, Guinan.
Subs: Veiga, Jones, Macleod, D'Agostino, Johnson.
Tranmere: Coyne, Shotton, Goodison, Chorley, Taylor, Sonko, Jennings, Kay, Barnett, Savage, Moore.
Subs: Achterberg, Cresswell, Curran, Edds, Burns.