Rocester 3 - Hereford 4

Rob Purdie's Penalty Gave The Bulls Their First Away Win

Following the 2-1 loss away at Highgate last Saturday, manager Pete Beadle made 2 changes to the starting XI, bringing in Sam Gwynne in place of Max Kontic-Coveney and Aaron Birch's place was taken by Dean Lee.

Hereford’s first chance of the game came from a Tony James headed clearance. The ball found Adam Page on the half way line, and his run up the right flank saw him whip in a cross, but nobody in the box challenged for the ball and the keeper easily collected.

Rocester then set the tone of the first half, when on the 6th minute mark Joel Edwards was attempting to close his man down towards the corner flag, but as goalkeeper Harvey Rivers came out to assist, both he and Edwards were beaten and the ball was delivered into the box where Karl Demidh had the simple task of knocking the ball into an empty goal.

Rocester then doubled their advantage 4 minutes later when Demidh grabbed his second goal of the afternoon. After breaking away from defence, he sent a low shot past Rivers.

Josh Williams then sent Rocester 3-0 ahead just 2 minutes later, when again, Hereford's defence failed to deal with the danger. Sam Gwynne was the only man back, and with him not being able to get a tackle in, Williams’s shot took a deflection off a Hereford defender sent the ball looping over Rivers for the 3rd goal in 6 minutes.

After the referee pulled play back for a foul, Rob Purdie took the free kick deep into the penalty area. With the ball being headed behind for a corner, Rocester initially dealt with the danger, but Sol Wheatley set Pablo Heysham up, but his shot lacked any real conviction.

HT: Rocester 3 - Hereford 0

After a poor first half performance from the Bulls, Beadle made 2 substitutions at the start of the second period. Dylan Bonella and Nathan Hughes replaced Dean Lee and Sol Wheatley respectively.

Substitute Dylan Bonella

From the restart, John Mills made a run up the right before cutting in and getting a shot away. After being deflected out for a corner, the ball was initially cleared, but after Purdie hit the ball goalwards, the keeper fumbled with the slippery ball before eventually smothering it.

Hereford started their comeback on the 61st minute. Following a run into the box from the wing by Adam Page, he played the ball back to Pablo Heysham who chose his spot and side-footed the ball past Rocester's static keeper.

On the 74th minute, John Mills pulled a second goal back for the Bulls. His low shot into the centre of the goal was enough to beat Richard Froggatt.

Hereford kept piling on the pressure and following a foul on Pablo Heysham 30-yards out, Purdie's free kick was harmlessly headed around within the penalty area before being cleared.

With 85 minutes on the clock, an excellent dummy by Purdie let the ball go through to Nathan Hughes who broke into the box before firing the ball into the right hand side of the net.

Substitute Nathan Hughes Fires The Ball Past Keeper Froggatt For Hereford's Third Goal

Deep into injury time, Nathan Hughes showed a touch of class with his exquisite run into the box, which was abruptly brought to a stop when he was scythed down within the 18-yard box. 

Substitute Nathan Hughes Brought Down By Froggatt

Referee Mr Walker was left with no option but to point straight to the penalty spot. Rob Purdie stepped up to take the spot kick, and after sending Froggatt the wrong way, the ball nestled in the top right hand corner of the net.

Rob Purdie's Penalty Sales Past Froggatt

In the final moments of the game, Rocester had a shot that was easily saved by Rivers. But as a tussle broke out in the box after Tom Land lashed out at Tony James, the referee sent both players marching following James' retaliation.

FT: Rocester 3 - Hereford 4

Att: 310

Hereford: Rivers, Gwynne (Oates - 72'), Edwards (c), Lee (Hughes - 46'), James, Summers, Wheatley (Bonella - 46'), Purdie, Mills, Haysham, Page.

Subs not used: Haines, Moriera

Rocester: Froggatt, Wadsworth, Allen, Land (c), Mottershead, Griffiths, Martin, Richie-Smith, Williams, Demidh, Carty.

Subs not used: Allen, Nutt, Rushby.

Following their second half comeback, Robbie Savage chose Hereford as the non-league team on the day on BBC606.

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