Bardon Hill 0 - Hereford 2

The entrance to Bardon Hill's ground 

As Hereford traveled to a cold and wet Bardon Hill this afternoon, Pablo Haysham returned after his one-game suspension as Joe Tumelty dropped to the bench. Dylan Bonella also came back into the starting XI in place of Adam Page.

The teams and match officials during the minute's silence ahead of today's game

After an impeccably observed minute’s silence to pay tribute to the victims of yesterday's attacks in Paris, Hereford, in their away strip, kicked off playing towards Bardon Hill's clubhouse. Joel Edwards was quick to play the ball down the left wing to Pablo Haysham, but his cross was just out of reach of John Mills and the ball harmlessly trickled out for a goalkick.

With 4 minutes on the clock, Haysham whipped in another cross after Rob Purdie took his corner short, but after a quick succession of chances from John Mills and Mike Symons were blocked, Bardon Hill eventually cleared the danger to deny Hereford the opener. Another chance fell to Hereford 4 minutes later, after some good build up play, Joel Edwards set Pablo Haysham up on the edge of the area, but goalkeeper Tom Gutteridge watched Haysham’s rising shot sail over the crossbar.

With 13 minutes gone of the first half, John Mills had a chance to put the visitors ahead following a defensive error by Bardon Hill. As Josh Eggington failed to clear Ryan Green's long ball, Mills picked up the loose ball just outside the area, and with just the keeper left to beat, should've done better as he dragged his shot wide of the target.

Hereford could've been 3-0 up by the 17th minute if it wasn’t for some last ditch defending. Mike Symons' powerfully struck ball was parried by the keeper, before the stubborn Bardon Hill defence cleared his follow up shot off the line. 8 minutes later, a tenacious tackle on Pablo Haysham saw the referee award a free kick. Ryan Green's delivery into the heart of the box was punched clear by Tom Gutteridge, only reaching Joel Edwards on the edge of the area; despite taking time to compose himself, the skipper’s shot was too high to trouble Gutteridge.

With the Bulls continually piling on the pressure, Harvey Rivers had a relatively quiet half in the Hereford goal. However as the half hour mark passed, he was forced into making a diving save to keep out Dean Withers' cross come shot.

In the dying stages of the first half, Bardon Hill conceded a corner after pressure from Mike Symons. Rob Purdie's inswinging delivery was flicked onto John Mills by the head of Symons, but Gutteridge pulled off a fine save to send the sides in level at the break.

HT: Bardon Hill 0 - Hereford 0

Hereford returning after the break - conditions far from perfect

3 minutes after the restart, John Mills' was unlucky not to open the scoring after his right-footed shot hit the post and went out of play. From the resulting goalkick, Ryan Green won back possession before finding John Mills further up the field. As Mills managed to burst through the centre, he neatly slotted the ball past Gutteridge in Bardon Hill's goal, much to the delight of the travelling fans.

As expected, the condition of the pitch started to deteriorate and as a result, neither side could really create much in the way on chances.

As fresh legs were introduced in the form of Max Kontic-Coveney, the youngster was involved in the build up to Hereford's second goal. With Jimmy Oates finding Kontic-Coveney with his throw, he did well to round his man before crossing the ball low to Mike Symons. As Symons found space, he managed to force the ball across the line to double Hereford’s advantage.

Bardon Hill threatened periodically, but didn't present Hereford's defence with any real danger. As Pete Beadle freshened up midfield by bringing on Anthony Robbins and Joe Tumelty, the side were more than happy with the three points on a very wet and boggy pitch.

FT: Bardon Hill 0 - Hereford 2

Att: 330

Hereford: Rivers, Oates, Willets, Green, Edwards (c), Purdie, Birch, Bonella, Haysham, Mills, Symons.

Subs: Summers, Kontic-Coveney, Robbins, Grant, Tumelty.

Bardon Hill: Gutteridge, Fray, Keenan, Eggington, Holmes, Slater, Mulonga, Paparozzi, Hanslow, Fowkes, Withers.

Subs: Pearce, Moore, Mansbridge, Swift, Disney


The goals can be seen on Hereford FC's YouTube channel (link).

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