Joe Anyinsah and Chris Zebroski showed some good understanding to carve a couple of early chances for Rovers. Will Evans was on hand to clear a free kick with a strong header. Yoann Arquin used his pace to good effect, putting pressure on Cian Bolger and Dan Woodards. Nine minutes had elapsed when the visitors unexpectedly opened their account. Taking aim from just outside the box, Lee Brown’s rather tame shot seem to pass straight through Bartlett’s hands and into the goal. The ball did not seem to move in the air or strike one of Edgar Street’s many divots, so how the Hereford keeper fluffed it remains a puzzle. Shortly afterwards, a handball by Rob Purdie in the area was, fortunately, not spotted by the officials.
Delroy Facey and Tom Barkhuizen played a neat one two which almost forged an opening, whilst Zebroskii flicked a header to Anyinsah whose shot was blocked by Michael Townsend. Hereford’s chances were limited to an acrobatic scissor kick from Arquin which flew across the face of the goal. Rovers were awarded a dubious free kick which Andy Dorman took a good ten yards from where the alleged offence occurred, but on this occasion, the defensive wall did its job. There is little else to report from a dire first half, though there was some significance to the ironic applause from the Meadow End after a routine Bartlett save. Certainly, the Bulls did little to inspire any confidence; symptomatic was when Bartlett chose to bowl the ball out to Joe Colbeck instead of the regulation long ball, and the midfielder was not even watching events unfold.
HT: HUFC 0 BRISTOL ROVERS 1
Things appeared rosier for ten minutes after the interval. Hereford’s leveller arrived on 49 minutes when Facey showed unprecedented speed to latch onto a delightful pass from Dalibard and tucked the ball past Michael Poke in the Rovers goal. Confidence bloomed briefly, and Arquin’s neat control and quick pass to Barkhuizen created a chance, though the youngster could only find the side netting.
The game’s most controversial moment resulted in Hereford being reduced to ten men for the last half hour or so. Dalibard, eyes firmly fixed on a high ball, attempted to hook it upfield, but caught Eliot Richards on the head with a flailing boot. Instantly, the Frenchman acknowledged the accident- certainly a free kick for dangerous play, but as there was clearly no malice aforethought, Mr Boyeson’s decision to show a red card caused considerable anger.
Fuelled by the injustice, Hereford had three chances in rapid succession. Purdie’s pass to Colbeck forced a corner, from which Nathan Elder’s overhead kick was cleared. Fellow sub Sam Clucas then went on a mazy run and fired in another shot which was blocked, the ball rebounding to Townsend who could not quite force it home. A reshuffled Bulls side then resorted to too many aimless long balls and did not make any further impact. On the contrary, they became disillusioned, as did the crowd, when Rovers took the lead. A 72nd minute cross from Richards sailed into the six yard box. Bartlett did little to claim the ball, and no one picked up the run from the veteran journeyman Scott McGleish, who had the simplest of tasks to nod it home. Hereford could not find a response, and the only remaining chance was when Dan Woodards made a good opening for himself, only to shoot straight at Bartlett. “Goodnight, Irene” indeed.
FT: HUFC 1 BRISTOL ROVERS 2
Attendance: 2411, including 519 Gasheads.
HUFC: Bartlett, Purdie, Townsend, Stam, Dalibard, Barkhuizen (Clucas 62), Evans, Clist, Colbeck, Arquin (Elder 61), Facey (Peniket 78).
BRISTOL ROVERS: Poke, Sawyer (McGleish 59),Woodards, Bolger, Brown, Downes, Stanley, Dorman, Anyinsah, Richard, Zebroski.