A drizzly, mizzly day eased off for Hereford as interim manager Klukowski made two changes. The back five of Hodgkiss (c), Andoh, Pendley, Lilly and Latty-Fairweather continued. Hanson and KTS sat with Pinchard and Holmes flanking Storey. Jarvis was out of the match day squad and Oppong benched, where he was joined by Campbell, McLean, Barnett and Amadi-Holloway. The crowd was a disappointing 1,470 with 10 from Greater Manchester.
The Bulls stated brightly forcing early corners one of which was headed back across by Pendley but nobody picked up the opportunity. Curzon took the lead with their first attack. Captain Mahon got down the right and cut past TLF threading the ball to Spencer who got into the box, turned by Pendley and played an inviting ball back to the edge of the box. Campbell strode on to it and side footed it sweetly into the far netting. A beautiful goal for the Lancastrians but questions as to why nobody picked up Campbell as he was the only attacker with Andoh, Lilly and Hanson all being available.
The goal gradually took energy from the Bulls. Like a slowly deflating balloon their performance faded. The formation was not working. Neither Pinchard nor Holmes have the pace to break lines in wide positions.
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| A Shot From Levi Andoh |
Storey was full of energy and robbing Mahon got down the left and fired in a fierce low shot which Renshaw gathered. As Miles roamed increasingly down the left it resulted in him looking to centre to Pinchard as the most advanced player. Harry can play several positions but he is not physically cut out to be a centre forward.
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| Thierry Latty-Fairweather's Header Went Wide |
Hodgkiss was booked for fouling Matthews. It seemed harsh but referee Rogers went on to book on a relatively low threshold. As ever in National League North he ignored Nash time wasting once they were ahead. Barton wrestling Thompson-Sommers as he surged forward also earned a yellow. Barton was having an effective game picking up Holmes and Pinchard. Latty-Fairweather was then booked for a foul on Mahon which was only just bookable.
Young Campbell looked talented with some fine touches and when Walker opened up the Bulls defence and found Campbell ghosting in there was relief when his shot went just past the post. Pinchard picked up a knock and received some treatment. At half time he was replaced by Barnett who played in the number ten role. Forward Peers went down after almost every tackle and wasted a lot of time so Bulls fans were relieved when he was replaced by Hall. The Bulls were making little attacking headway so Yan changed formation. Andoh was changed for Amadi-Holloway.
The Bulls reverted to a four three three. From no strikers a few weeks ago to a trident of Barnett, Amadi-Holloway and Storey. Yet it did not create clear cut opportunities. Hereford simply do not work keepers enough. Cruzon took off the impressive Campbell bringing on Richards. He scored one, missed another golden opportunity and slipped a beautiful ball in which deserved finishing off. He looks a quality player with promise for the future and was the most influential player whilst on the pitch.
Holmes had been quiet but finally got free down the inside right channel. He crossed to Barnett and Amadi-Holloway in the box. Neither got on the end but having two big men caused enough pressure for the ball to be half cleared. It was an awkward ball to hit but Hanson showed good technique volleying it on the full. The ball rose and dipped but comfortably over the bar. The strike needed to be on target.
The Nash got down the right again. It was a difficult afternoon for Latty-Fairweather. Working the ball back across for a shot which Pendley dived to block. The ball would have hit Orrin’s body but it hit his arm first which was in front of his body so a penalty was given. Walker sent Visser the wrong way. Hundreds of Bulls fans left.
Klukowski doubled down on his attacking options bring on McLean for Holmes. For the first time in years Hereford had two big men up front with two out and out wingers. McLean though is badly out of form twice being caught offside. Some long Lilly lasers sought to get the Bulls in behind. Pendley was booked for a foul. He could have been booked earlier and had a hard afternoon against the fluid Nash front line.
Match sponsor Andy Edwards picked Lilly as his man of the match but he was partly responsible for the first goal. Visser did nothing wrong, Storey was full of energy and the best attacker, KTS looks better playing a bit deeper but at best all three were 7 out of 10. There were some stinking performances and it looked like the Bulls could have played until midnight without scoring. Soon after the match Klukowski announced that he did not want to manage these players.
Curzon are one of my favourite clubs. They play good football, captain Mahon always shows quality and with a low budget they surpass better supported teams like the Bulls. They played well and stopped Hereford from getting any meaningful strike on target. Manager Lakeland has consistently out performed his resources, he is a good manager.
At the end it was like a fire emergency drill as fans quickly exited. Two seventy something fans came past saying, no clap, no clap. No clap for that performance. At the start Hodgkiss was geeing up fans as he always does. At the end he walked towards fans applauding, but with his head looking down avoiding eye contact. The club is in a mess. The interim managers do not want the job. Chairman Hale has sacked Gowling without having a replacement lined up. Long term committed senior fans want to explain what they can but were sworn to secrecy at the AGM. Crowds are going to decline, the clubs finances will worsen and 99% of fans at a club where fans own the majority of shares are effectively excluded from helping improve things.