The father of
teenage Hereford goalkeeper Brandon Powell said he was over the moon following
the 18-year-old’s performance against Kidderminster.
Powell was only
told he was in the line-up at about 1.30pm, with his dad, Darran finding out
when it was officially announced 30 minutes later.
The teen was
drafted in due to regular keeper Brandon Hall being unwell. Considering
Hereford went into the game on the back of an horrendous winless run going back
exactly three months, one could have forgiven Powell for feeling nervous.
But
he put in a very competent performance, and aided by a well-marshalled defence,
did everything that was asked for him. Hereford went on to claim a vital 2-1
win, with Powell being named man-of-the-match.
“I don’t speak
to Brandon from the time he leaves the car to the time he leaves Edgar Street,”
so I only found out about the team sheet when it was officially announced,”
said Darran.
“When I heard
the news, I was over the moon for him, he works hard each week and has finally
been provided with the opportunity.
“I went to the
game with his younger brother, who is his biggest supporter. Due to us living
in Wales it would be manic to get any more family members up to watch, so they
listened through the Hereford Radio to keep updated.”
Darran admitted
that he was very anxious watching the game and was just hoping that Brandon had
a good game.
“I thought he
did himself proud,” he said.
“I’d say the
worst bit for me was when he was taken out when collecting the cross; he was
led on the floor and I wasn’t sure whether he was conscious or not with the
players reactions. That’s something you learn to deal with overtime though, especially
with the goalkeeper position.”
Powell, who
attended Abersychan Comprehensive School before attending the County in the
Community College programme and latterly its University programme, started
playing as a goalkeeping when he was nine-years-old.
He originally played for
Blaenavon Blues, before the club folded. He then moved to another local side,
Griffithstown.
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| Brandon Powell with his Griffithstown teammates |
“His coaches
Paul and Blair were amazing providing Brandon with good opportunities to trial
at Cardiff City,” explained Darran.
“Brandon spent
most part in the Cardiff City Advanced Development Centre but knew he needed to
try different avenues to get to where he wanted to be.
“At Under-16s,
Brandon trialled for Hereford but was unsuccessful. He was told to go to Ross
Juniors where he’d be watched and to hopefully be signed the following season. Throughout
that season, Brandon also trialled out for Newport County to get a scholarship
deal where he was also unsuccessful. A few weeks later he attended the Hereford
trials for a second year, this time being accepted within the first trial
period. Since then
Brandon has excelled in the academy and obviously has progressed through to the
senior squad.
"Away from playing, Brandon coaches the younger generation of
goalkeepers. He was originally introduced to coaching by Paul Simms (his goalkeeper
coach since the age of nine) where he helped at PS1 Goalkeeping.
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| Brandon Powell with Paul Simms |
“He then
progressed to run the keepers at Torfaen Academy for two seasons and has
recently moved to a Cardiff City Development Centre.”
Powell has been
with Hereford since under-17 level and has gone through the academy system. He
started to train with the senior team when Peter Beadle was manager and was
signed by Tim Harris and Marc Richards two days before coming off the bench to
play in an FA Cup defeat to Welling.
Powell replaced
the injured Martin Horsell during that game in October 2018 and Darran said
that his son has improved physically to help with his development
“Due to him
being relatively short for a goalkeeper he needs to be explosive with his
movements,” he said.
“When training,
Brandon works closely with the other Brandon (Hall), picking up and taking on
new things every week. I have found that training with a goalkeeper with
Brandon Hall’s experience has brought Brandon on massively.”
Powell is on a
dual registration deal with Hereford Pegasus, helping the Old Lane School side
to top Hellenic League Division One West.
“Although
Hereford Pegasus is a lower level, it has been very beneficial for Brandon to
have regular men’s football,” said Darran.
“No matter the
level, Brandon is still exposed to similar situations in which he’d face in a
Hereford shirt. The coaching staff (Mick Panniers and Dave Cadwallader) have
provided Brandon with good opportunities because not many teams would take
chances on an 18- year-old keeper.”
Since his
performance on New Year’s Day, will Powell be ready for a tough encounter
against Gateshead on Saturday if required?
“Obviously if
they need Brandon at all he’s available for them, but other than that it’s up
to the management staff,” said Darran.
“Brandon was
ecstatic after the game, obviously I saw it all on the pitch, but he just
filled me in on what Russell (Slade) and the boys said in the changing room.”