After what was effectively a trial match at Ledbury, Simon Davey fielded what is probably his strongest starting eleven for the start of Tuesday evenings friendly against Swansea City at Edgar Street and The Bulls deservedly ran out 2-0 winners thanks to goals from James McQuilkin and Sean Canham.
Davey started with Adam Bartlett, Ryan Green, Kovacs, Rose and Valentine as a back division with O'Neil Thompson as the holding player in front of the back four. Kenny Lunt and James McQuilkin carried on from where they left off last season as a busy midfield partnership with The Beast, Sean Canham and the returning Stuart Fleetwood providing a three-pronged attacking force up front.
The Jacks were the quicker out of the blocks as they controlled the opening ten to fifteen minutes with some crisp, neat passing. An early through ball found Nathan Dyer but the Swansea wideman was unable to keep the ball in play as it ran for a goal kick. From the restart, Ryan Green found McQuilkin to release the lively Manset who outpaced and out-muscled his marker but the defender recovered at the cost of an unsuccessful corner. The Bulls front three were starting to get to grips with the game and their constant changing of positions caught the Jacks' defence on several occasions. Manset was fed by the advancing Valentine and thundered a volley just wide from fully 35 yards before turning provider as he threaded a ball through to Fleetwood who forced a save from De Vries in the Swansea goal. Sean Canham was just slightly in front of a chance at the far post as the ball came in from the left before The Bulls opened the scoring just after twenty minutes.
Manset danced his way passed three defenders to play a one/two with Fleetwood and feed McQuilkin who's shot from the corner of the penalty area deflected passed the helpless 'keeper off Alan Tate.
Dobbie fired wide for the Jacks before Canham was just off target having been put through by McQuilkin then Dobbie tested Bartlett with an effort from 20 yards. Kenny Lunt then produced a trademark through ball to Canham who found Ryan Green on the overlap but his first time cross was deflected for a corner that was comfortably cleared. A rare moment of indecision in The Bulls back line resulted in a corner for the visitors from which Monk's header was high, wide and horrible. Nathan Dyer got passed Valentine but his cross was scooped fifteen feet over the bar by Dobbie as the half drew to a close.
After a slightly nervous opening ten minutes, United had finished the first period as the better-looking outfit.
HT Bulls 1 Swansea City 0
Davey replaced Kenny Lunt with trialist Stratford and Dan Conner took over from Bartlett in goal and Conner was soon into the action as he back-peddled to tip a cross from the left over at the expense of a corner. Then Fleetwood hassled Williams into conceding a corner, which was unconvincingly palmed away before Swansea fell further behind.
Fleetwood forced an error from defender Rangel allowing Canham to lift the ball over the advancing 'keeper from 12 yards.
Swansea continued to try to force their way back into the game but Simon Davey’s attacking intentions were emphasised when leaving two men up front while defending a Swansea corner. O'Neil Thompson's effort from 25 yards was charged down and on the break, substitute Shefki Kuqi's shot was blocked away for a throw on the right which was quickly taken but the early cross found Dan Conner confidently out to claim.
A flurry of replacements by both sides followed and a floated free kick from the left found young trialist Sam Malsom but his downward header bounced agonisingly over the bar. A Swansea move from the right produced a chance for Kuqi but the former Blackburn man headed the opportunity wide before another chance was cut out by Conner as he moved well clear of his goal-line to narrow the angle.
With both teams having made a host of changes, the final period became a little disjointed but The Bulls ended the game as worthy victors in front of 1568 including a very creditable 396 from south-west of Pontrilas.
FT Bulls 2 Swansea City 0
This was a very encouraging start to the main course of pre-season friendlies. In fact, if tonight’s starting line-up was listed at Crewe then this particular observer would not be too dismayed. The old guard from last season performed as expected and Dan Conner showed that he would be a real threat to Bartlett’s hold on the gloves. For me, the interesting one was Hungarian centre-back Janus Kovacs who arrived at Edgar Street with taunts of "hoof merchant" from fans of his previous employers. How wrong were they as they new Bull's defender proceeded to play careful forward passes to his new teammates and only once, when it really was required, launched the ball into the Cargill seats. O'Neil Thompson more than showed his worth as a holding player in front of the back four while "King" Kenny and "Wee Jimmy" busied themselves, as usual, in the centre of the park.
Another very encouraging aspect was the forward play of the Manset, Canham and Fleetwood combination. Who played where? You tell me, because the trio changed positions so many times in the first half that it was almost impossible to predict which would pop up in the central role next. The movement was a joy to watch.
I'm happy. Seeya at The Street on Friday.
Hereford: Adam Bartlett, Ryan Green, Ryan Valentine, Janos Kovacs, Richard Rose, Kenny Lunt, James McQuilkin, O'Neil Thompson, Mathieu Manset, Sean Canham, Stuart Fleetwood.
Subs: Dan Connor, Sam Malsom, Michael Townsend, Lionel Djebzi, Tyler Weir, Daniel Stretford, Jamie Sheldon, Kayne McLaggon, Karl Moore, Josh Knight, Kye Edwards.
Text at top (next game etc)
Next Game: Kings Lynn At Edgar Street On Saturday 21 September at 3.00pm