Simon Davey kicked off his Hereford career with a fairly comfortable 2-0 victory at Ledbury Town to win the Herefordshire Senior Cup. The starting line-up included nine trialists, with only goalie Dan Connor and left-back Tyler Weir signed on for the coming season featuring from the start. Around 700 fans were in attendance to see goals in either half from Jamie Sheldon, and sub Mathieu Manset.
The match in the first-half failed to settle with the trialists, fairly unfamilar with one and other, unable to strike any real impact. Daniel Stretford struck a 20 yard shot just shy of the near post and Michael Townsend's header from a Sam Gwynne corner was off target. The breakthrough came mid-way through the first half, with Sheldon grabbing the opener;
the former Birmingham youngster had shown his intent with a rasping drive from outside the box which took a deflection before striking the cross-bar. From the corner that followed, Sheldon was again involved, linking up with Stretford before shooting left-footed across the Ledbury 'keeper Lewis Skyers and into the far corner. Chances after the goal were few and far between, with an ambitious long-range shot from Kye Edwards clearing the cross-bar and soon after, an excellent swivel inside the box from Gwynne presented him with the opportunity to shoot but a placed shot was well blocked by the covering defender.
At half-time Adam Bartlett was introduced in between the sticks, with Connor making way and around ten minutes later, Hereford bought on six subs. Ryan Green, O'Neil Thompson, James McQuilkin, Stuart Fleetwood, Manset and Sean Canham were bought onto the field of play, with Edwards, Weir, Kane Mclaggon, Sheldon, Josh Weight and Karl Moore all making way.
The attacking trio of Fleetwood, Manset and Canham all looked lively, with the Frenchman testing the reactions of Skyers after a horrendous bobble nearly deceived the goalie. Town had few chances on the day to get back in it, and none so were closer than Joel Skyer's 35 yard lob which had Bartlett scrambling but fell just over the crossbar. As the hosts tired, Hereford poured forward but often lacked the killer final ball. Fleetwood skinned his man on the right before delivering a low cross which Manset met on the stretch; a poke of the left toe later and the ball smashed the inside of the bar, before bouncing away. Only goal-line technology would have decided whether it had crossed the line or not.
A particular feature of the second-half was Thompson's powerful long-range shots which on a number of occasions forced the goalie into action. Quick-thinking from a corner saw Fleetwood race into the box but a powerful shot was pushed away. Green was also denied in a similar area having been smartly played in by Canham. The lack of the killer ball was twice highlighted when Fleetwood and Canham raced clear, but failed to pick out each other for easy tap ins. As the game progressed to the latter stages, United doubled their advantage. Green lofted a ball over the back-line and Manset
used his strength to get in front of his marker, before eventually sliding a left-footer past the goalie. In the closing stages, both Gwynne and Fleetwood were denied from close-range by the impressive sub 'keeper.
Whilst the first-half offered little in entertainment, the sizeable crowd will have been more impressed with the second-half. As stated previously, the attacking trio of Fleetwood, Manset and Canham complemented each other well, interchanging positions regularly and all offering different threats to one and other. Thompson's position in front of the back-four was also encouraging, as he used his huge frame to break up the play, before spraying balls left, right and centre. Next up for Hereford is the visit of Swansea on Tuesday night, where a much sterner test is expected. Davey is expected to give all players under contact a run out, and is likely to have some more trialists on show.
Hereford: Connor (Bartlett), Edwards (Green), Weir (McQuilkin), Townsend, Djebi Zadi, McLaggon (Thompson), Sheldon (Fleetwood), Weight (Canham), Moore (Manset), Stretford.
Ledbury: L. Skyers, Beaton, Minnett, Reul, Pritchett, Rich, Cavanagh, Parker, Colling, Varnan, J. Skyers.