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Saturday, January 22, 2022

Hereford Saved By A Mole In The First Half Said Gowling


Hereford FC manager Josh Gowling spoke to the local media after this afternoon's 4-1 victory at Farsley Celtic. This is the same interview as in our audio published earlier parts of which are difficult to hear because of the windy conditions.

"Pleasing," said Gowling.

"I think we were wasteful at times in the final third.

"Coming in at 1-0 at half time, we really should have put the game to bed before half time.

"I felt the last five or ten minutes we let them back in the game when we stopped pressing and we kind of let the elements get the better of us which is not really the way we play.

"They were told at half time and we came out second half and put on a good performance."

Hereford scored first but Farsley could have equalised close to half time.

"I think at our place it would have slid into the back of the net, I think a mole popped out and headed it wide.

"1-0 is one of those scorelines where if you let teams back in, a little set play like that and they are back in and they get their tails up. Especially teams down the bottom they are fighting for everything.

"And to be fair first half I thought they did well, they put pressure on us but I thought we dealt with the elements well."

Given the poor surface how important was it to mix it today?

"I said to the lads we need to get it down and play it as much as we can. What we didn't want to do is come here and play their game plan which is just to go long constantly.

"So we did try to get on the ball at times and get the ball in wide areas when we had a bit more time Ryan did that well. And Seb was excellent at left back, he get forward all the time.

"We took Dinesh off at half time as he was on a yellow and their striker was getting on him a bit so we brought Skip (Hodgkiss) to settle it down a bit and it worked for us."

That's back to back victories you were looking for that?

"Yep pleased. You want to get a response, I wanted to see how far we've come. The last time we were here we won 2-1 and we're a completely different team now to what we were two seasons ago. 

"So it shows the progression in the side which is really pleasing."

Hereford are now two points away from the play-offs and with Gloucester on Tuesday a chance to get closer.

"We want to progress, it's pleasing we are talking about that sort of things. 

"A few people with Kiddy said after the game that they couldn't believe we're not in the mix already.

"We had a bit of a poor start to the season but hopefully we'll hit form from now to the end of the season."

New signing Touray scored on his debut.

"I've been trying to get Mo for about two years now so when all the fans moan at me about number nine it's his fault.

"He's gives us an injection of energy, he moves well, he looks for balls in behind, he links play up well.

"Real great composure for his goal, I thought he was excellent, he took his time and sided it well."

More competition for Gordon?

"Yes, we've brought him in. Miles was out of the time for a minute, Mazi been doing well so now all of a sudden we've got good competition there and in the full back areas and midfield and at the back with Kristian available. We've got real competion in the squad."

Have you got a points target over the next four games?

"We've already got a target, we're more than half way through our target. That will stay in house! It's important the lads stay focused so I don't want that going out and putting too much pressure on them. We're on our way to our target."

Hodgkiss replace Gillela at half time.

"He's been out for a while, he's been back training and a game like today at 1-0 when the referee has thrown a few yellow cards around. We just wanted to steady the ship around a little bit.

"Dinish has been absolutely brilliant and he played well again today but looking at him on a yellow with the striker kept on him and those few toussles you just don't want to run the risk so we just thought we would bring skip on to steady the ship a little bit."

Given how well the defence has played recently having Kristian Preace available on Tuesday might cause you a few problems.

"They are good problems to have I suppose, actually they're not because it's a conversation I don't want to have but you've got to have them. 

"Krystian has been out for three games but he's trained well and he's been helping Jamie (Egan) and Ben, talking to them. That's the pros we have in the squad so at the end of the day whoever we pick they'll be happy,  well they won't be happy if they don't play, they'll push everyone on and that's the group we've got."

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