Baggies Beat Bulls

A strong West Bromwich Albion U21 side were the visitors at Edgar Street this evening, with them bringing only one trialist in their starting XI compared to Hereford’s 9 – 7 of which were playing for the first time. 

Players Thanking The Supporters After The Game

Hereford’s defence denied West Brom an early goal, whilst at the other end a ball forward to Shane Williams went out for a Luke Williams corner; the ball was passed back to him but the Albion defence snuffed out his cross.

£6million first team winger Stéphane Sessègnon was named on WBA’s teamsheet, so it was no surprised that they started to create chances. After 14 minutes Andre Wright tapped the ball in past Rivers to put the Throstles ahead. Minutes later Wright almost doubled the scoreline when after Max Kontic-Coveney mistimed his tackled, it allowed Wright to get past him and get a shot away, only for the shot to be deflected wide for a corner.

Shane Williams Chasing The Ball

A good ball was played across the heart of the defence to Luke Williams, who sent the ball down the right wing to Shane Williams; his cross was just too far ahead of the onrushing Hughes and the ball went harmlessly behind for a goalkick.

Before the break, Saimr Nabi doubled the Baggies score when, following a run up the right flank, he cut into the box and sent a low shot across the box and into the bottom corner of the net; two more chances followed for West Brom, the first, a forceful shot from Kyle Edwards was blocked, but the follow up was sent too wide to trouble Bulls’ keeper Harvey Rivers.

Hereford’s best chance of the half fell to Shane Williams; he whipped in a cross from the left, only for it to be charged down and out for a for a Bulls throw.

Peter Beadle And The Hereford Bench

HT: Hereford 0 – West Bromwich Albion 2

Harvey Rivers was called into action soon after the restart, after Kyle Edwards’ pass allowed Saimr Nabi to carry the ball down the left; Rivers did well to smother the cross and deny WBA the chance to capitalise.

The Whites responded to this latest Albion pressure with two decent efforts; the first came when Dan McDonald’s shot just cleared the crossbar, but minutes later McDonald popped up again. After the ball was played back to Rivers, and after a string of short passes the ball found its way into the 18-yard box, the resulting header was well wide of Ethan Ross’ goal.

The Baggies next goal was scored in a similar manner to the second; Tyler Roberts’ low shot from the right of the box beat Rivers and nestled into the bottom left of the net.

Boss Peter Beadle then made a quartet of subs which saw Matt James, Sam Hunt, Sam Pearson and Sol Wheatley take to the field. Following the substitutions Hereford forced their first corner of the evening; Hunt’s inswinger was headed away by the Baggies’ defence.

After Hereford’s defence cleared a ball from a WBA corner, Wheatley was on the counterattack; despite being through on goal, his shot lacked any real conviction and the ball smothered by Ross. 

At the other end goals four and five found their way into the back of the net – Sessègnon bagged his second of the night as he tapped in from close range before a Hereford own goal made it five; Jamie Gregory deflected a cross past his own keeper and into the back of the net.

Hereford nearly grabbed a consolation goal minutes later when Nathan Hughes dispossessed Albion on the wing, but his cross was just too far ahead of the onrushing Pearson. The Bulls agonisingly close to getting a goal back when Sam Hunt’s curling shot come cross beat the keeper but was denied by the upright.

Keep Beaten But Sam Hunt's Strike Hit The Post And Went Wide

Referee Ben Morris instantly awarded a penalty to the visitors when Harvey Rivers brought down Tyler Roberts in the area; substitute Sam Field fired the ball in after sending Rivers the wrong way.

As the game drew to a close, Rivers caught a Baggies cross before quickly releasing Sol Wheatley down the wing, his initial shot was cleared back to his feet, with his second attempt allowing Sam Pearson to try his luck, but his shot was inches wide of the upright.

FT: Hereford 0 – West Bromwich Albion 6

Att: 1,807 with 43 in the away enclosure

Sponsors’ MotM: Number 11 Shane Williams

Hereford:

Harvey Rivers, Max Kontic-Coveney, Luke Williams, Adam Newbury, Jamie Gregory, Tom Moxham, Mitchell Palmer, Ryan Shaw, Nathan Hughes, Dan McDonald, Shane Williams

Subs: Matt James, Sam Hunt, Nathan Summers, Callum Craddock, Sam Pearson, Sol Wheatley, Rob Purdie, James Aurelius

West Bromwich Albion:

Ethan Ross, Josh Ezewele, Robbie McCourt, Saimr Nabi, Trialist, Kyle Howkins, Tahvon Campell, Zack Elbouzedi, Andre Wright, Stephane Sessegnion, Kyle Edwards

Subs: Bradley Sweeney, Matthew Hall, Sam Field, Trialist, Tyler Roberts,  James Smith

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