Hereford Beaten By Heart And Soul

Son of Eric watched Tuesday evening's HFA County Cup Final.

Hereford FC struggle with the County Cup. Beadle was sacked after losing to Westfields. Gowling saw his team badly fade and lose to Lads club going from 2 0 up to 3 2 down in 2020, but this was the worst display by far. In the cup run Hereford had beaten Bromyard, Westfields and Pegasus, all better technical sides than Hartpury. It is important to state that the difference in leagues between the two teams was the same as Kidderminster playing West Ham. All praise to the men in red who put on the best display of passionate, hardworking teamwork which has been seen at Edgar Street all season.

Hereford played a team of almost all Gowling signings. Sondergaard in goal, Campbell, Derricott (youth team), Raison, and Fitzgerald in defence. Patten and Vincent sitting with McLean, captain Klukowski and Njie, with Touray up front. On the bench were Storey, Morris, Austin-Davies, Sheers and Fox. Hereford started in lively fashion pressing well and turning over lots of possession. They looked a class above and as has been the problem all season the only difficulty was the inability to turn quality time with the ball into goals. The students tried their best but there were a lot of heavy touches and even when they went forward, they struggled to string passes together.

It was apparent that Hereford’s backline was being troubled by the pace of Bam and Baidoo. Sondergaard came out to try and head a ball clear and it appeared to glance off his head, but Raison had read the danger and cleared. Then Baidoo got free in the box and Derricott went man to man with him. Baidoo went down but referee Brookland ruled that the contact was reasonable and Mark who had a personal fan club in the stand cleared the ball away.

Most of Hereford’s best play came down the left and Fitzgerald had a good game showing an enterprising attacking instinct. A fine move saw Hereford finally break the lines with a pass in behind which Klukowski took on and as the manual says he shot across goal, keeper Sarkodie pushing the ball out. Touray plays to a different manual, he was caught on his heels not following in and by the time he had engaged his forward gear Hartpury’s defenders recovered and just toed the ball away before Mo could score the simple tap in on offer to an alert striker. This was yet another disappointing performance from Touray. He regularly took the ball well and held it up, he could beat a player and he played one exquisite cross field pass curled off the outside of his foot which was the classiest piece of skill of the night. But he’s a striker and he does not score goals, look like scoring goals and as on this occasion he does not lurk looking for goals. He was also caught offside several times.

McLean had been drifting along the frontline and when he made a run to the inside right forward position Njie passed through the lines and as ever once Ryan’s gone nobody is catching him. He rounded keeper Sarkodie who fouled him, but Ryan rode the challenge and stumbling still managed to score. A great decision by referee Brookland to play advantage but he should have followed up by booking the keeper at least for a foul in the box trying to stop a goal scoring opportunity.

At half time Hereford had been dominant and aside from flashes of pace Hartpury had struggled to create opportunities. Hereford had failed to convert their dominance into goals. McLean was substituted for Morris, and this impacted on the game. Ryan’s pace meant Hartpury had played a deeper backline but without that threat in the second half they pushed higher up at the back, and this constricted Hereford’s space to play in. By contrast Hereford’s backline struggled throughout with the jet paced Hartpury frontline and had to play deeper.

Njie had made little contribution apart from the pass for the goal and he was substituted for Storey. Hartpury took off Robinson and Ellis-Clark and brought on Smallety and Bissett. This turned the game as gradually Hartpury built more possession and started to dominate the game repeatedly breaking forward and giving Campbell an uncomfortable evening at right back. Campbell has looked accomplished in midfield, but he struggled with his positions as a defender and made several poor headers. There was limited support for him, and Hartpury were building more and more pressure, Hereford did not seem able to move up a gear and get back control of the game. No restructuring came from the bench to address the mounting difficulties. Baidoo was especially troubling Hereford, and his pace was finding more and more space for Hartpury. When he burst into the right side of the box Patten fouled him as he shot for a clear penalty which Holder tucked into the bottom left corner.

There was no response from the Hereford management team and Hartpury sensed that they could get more from the game. The students were lively, passionate, and committed. Hereford were not. Bissett beat Campbell on the left and hit a cross shot. Sondergaard palmed out and Bam was following the ball in and responded sharply to strike the winner. 

Hereford lumbered but did not look convincing and Raison had to foul Smalley as the students threatened to secure the Cup. Captain Klukowski was unable to enthuse the Bulls.

Baidoo kicked the ball away and was booked for timewasting but knowing the game was almost won he had a big smile and rarely has a penalised player looked happier. At the end the students were exultant at doing the double of the Herefordshire League and Cup double. Hereford FC are officially not even the best team in Herefordshire.

The students are very raw, but they believed in themselves and their plan. Their equaliser had been coming for some time and in a way, this was like the FA Trophy final where Hereford hit the wall and the management team seemed unable to respond to the pressures of the occasion. Hartpury fully deserved their victory and gently trolled Hereford on Twitter thanking the Bulls for a competitive fixture.

Apart from youth team player Derricott who was fine apart from struggling with pace all the players were Gowling signings. It is hard to understand why the attitude of the Hartpury players was so much more committed than the Bulls players. Gowling in his post-match interview said several players needed to look at themselves. It would also seem appropriate for the manager to reflect on why so many poor players have been signed and why they cannot be motivated.

Congratulations to Hartpury deserved winners with Baidoo and Bam catching the eye. They may not have the skills of Touray, but their teamwork, attitude and fitness clinched the cup.