Any fears of a poor playing surface were quickly dispelled as the Lydbrook groundsman, a Hereford fan, had prepared an excellent pitch on which the teams produced an entertaining game in front of what looked like around 700 spectators at Reeds Sports Ground this evening.
The Bulls ran out comfortable winners by seven goals to nil and a spirited Lydbrook side contained their visitors for half an hour. Stuart Fleetwood showed his predatory instincts with a hat-trick inside the closing fifteen minutes of the first period and a goal from McQuilken gave United a four goal interval lead and further goals in the second half from Malsom, youth player Aidan Thomas and Manset capped off a convincing victory.
The opening exchanges were dominated by The Bulls with Manbeast proving more than a handful for the hosts' defence as he fired inches passed the upright. McQuilken made ground down the right before crossing low into the danger area. The ball evaded Canham and Manset fired well over from 15 yards when well placed. Then a Lunt corner found Thompson on the edge of the box but Bigga's crashing drive was scrambled clear. Quilks released Fleetwood on the right but Canham headed his inch perfect cross wide. Lydbrook busied themselves with some effective closing down but were unable to unlock The Bulls rearguard despite some tidy approach work.
Hereford opened their account on the half hour mark after Lunt's good work produced a shot which the home 'keeper was unable to hold. Canham pounced and crossed for Fleetwood to finish from close range. King Kenny then danced his way into the penalty area before squaring to Fleetwood for his second tap-in of the game on forty minutes. Fleets completed his hat-trick with a fine goal three minutes later. Once again Lunt was involved as he jinked his way passed two defenders before cutting the ball back to Fleetwood just inside the area and he dropped a shoulder before firing delightfully into the far corner of the net. On the stroke of half-time, the industrious McQuilken played a neat one-two with Manset before flicking the return ball passed the keeper.
HT Lydbrook 0 Bulls 4
The opening goal of the second half arrived while I was still queuing for my excellent hot-dog but I'm reliably informed that it was Malsom (on at half time for Canham) who headed home a loose ball following a goalmouth scramble. A Malsom shot thudded against the bar and Zak Evans fired the rebound against the foot of the upright before youth player Aidan Thomas drove home for the sixth. Manset rounded off the scoring when he converted a chance created by Sam Gwynne as the hosts visibly tired.
Hereford Starting XI - Connor, Green, Kovacs, Townsend, Valentine, Lunt, McQuilkin, Thompson, Manset, Canham, Fleetwood. All the Subs were used in the second period with Lunt and Canham returning to the action late on - Bartlett, Weir, Rose, Evans, Kanoute, Thomas, Stratford, Gwynne, Malson.
It was a very entertaining game and credit must go to Lydbrook who gave a competitive performance. Richard Rose wouldn't have had this one on his CV if he'd gone to Daggenham!
Bulls fans now look forward to the Open Day on Saturday and the final home friendly against Plymouth before round off the pre-season against Neath.