Season Fades Away

Barnett Looked To Have Scored But It Was Deemed Offside

On a mild but showery day Hereford played out of form Darlington. KTS had not recovered from his injury last Saturday so Jarvis came in to replace him. The Bulls lining up Visser; Hodgkiss (c), Egan, Amadi-Holloway, Andoh; Hanson, Lloyd; McLean, Jarvis, Holmes; Storey.

It was good to see Luke Haines back on the bench not the bean bag, alongside Lilly, Pinchard, Derricott and Barnett. Hereford played 4-2-3-1 out of possession, converting to a diamond in possession with McLean pushing up front. Darlington lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation. The Quakers looked shaky shanking simple balls and misplacing passes reflecting their recent poor form.

The Bulls did not seize the opportunity to get hold of the game. Darlington picked up a series of free kicks which the Bulls dealt capably with but it was a concern that they were fouling and providing dead ball chances. Hereford broke free and Storey shot over, the first of many misses. Some high, some wide, none handsome. Gradually though the Quakers got the upper hand.

With all the strikes going on the Bulls players empathised. They didn’t go on strike as then they would be strikers and they’ve avoided scoring regularly. Instead it was more of a work to rule with several players doing just enough to get by. Storey was especially isolated with the gap between him and supporting midfielders far too wide. Only Lloyd was making enough runs to get up. When Miles did get a sniff he had no easy out ball on far too many occasions.

With the Bulls so unadventurous Darlington increasingly squeezed further up the pitch so that most of the game was taking place in the Bulls half. Hereford broke occasionally. McLean won the ball back deep in the Bulls half, turned and played a great ball to Storey. Miles held it up passing to Lloyd who ran behind and found Hodgkiss but Jared did not catch his strike cleanly and it was easy for Taylor to save. At the other end the skipper had his hands full with Newall who had the beating of him for pace. Jared fouled to survive but it was a difficult afternoon for the veteran skipper.

Hereford failed to clear a corner and when it fell to Nelson he remarkably hit it over the bar from close range, a shocking miss. The warning signs were there but the Bulls were lethargic and long balls towards Storey sought his head rather than channels for him to run into and exploit his pace. Darlington were attacking across the pitch, down both wings and probing balls down the left and right inside forward channels.

A long ball towards centre forward Hazel was won by Amadi-Holloway who marshalled him well. The ball dropping down into space in the middle. Hanson out of position on the right was jogging back. Suddenly sensing danger he sprinted but it was too late, Rivers striding on and scorching home on the half volley. An unstoppable finish but he was in a lot of space with Jethro caught out.

The Quakers confidence lifted and an incident just before halftime helped. Storey lost possession and going back to clear the ball he mistimed and caught Felix late but not dangerously nor over the top. Felix went down and added an extra roll of agony off the pitch. The Quaker players and crowd erupted demanding red but the referee handled the incident well explaining what was proportionate and giving Miles a yellow. Darlington’s fans were impressive. The home end constantly singing songs before a goal was scored. In a division with many quiet crowds it was good to have some atmosphere and even a bit of venom. The 1,504 did their team proud, with about 35 Bulls fans.

Jarvis robbed Newall and swung in a sweet curling ball to Storey at the back post in space but Miles snatched at it and blasted over. A long kick from Visser saw the ball bouncing around. McLean nicked it to Jarvis who played a sharp one two with Lloyd and fired hard and low but unfortunately straight at Taylor. The ball rebounded and Jarvis stretched to scoop a shot back but Taylor just got a fingertip to it allowing a defender to clear.

In one moment the Bulls could have equalised but straight away the Quakers broke at pace. Nelson playing the pass of the day slicing it off his instep out wide to Felix totally taking Andoh out of the game. Felix advanced and put a perfect ball across the six yard line to Nelson at the back post. He miskicked, but having got the ball out of his feet, clipped home. Visser palmed the ball out off the post but it had crossed the line for Darlington to double their lead.

Klukowski reacted immediately by taking off Holmes and McLean replacing them with Barnett and Pinchard. This was possibly Jack’s weakest performance for the Bulls. Outmuscled too often going forward and struggling to pick up the most effective defensive positions. McLean had flashes but not enough of them and was out of the game for periods.

Hereford tried and a clever Hodgkiss pass found Barnett who scored but was flagged as offside. 

Darlington were the better team and scored a third late on. A hopeful dink into the box saw Hazel get the wrong side of Egan, hold him off and shoot across Visser. Egan has not yet found the form he showed in his previous loan spell.

The chance of the play offs was slim but the Bulls season ended with a whimper. Nervy Darlington were there for the taking but there is insufficient on field nous to smell opportunities. The first half was poor and it would be interesting to see the distances covered. Some players appeared to run a lot less than usual. The Bulls are not going up and need just a win to be safe. With their ability to be consistently inconsistent that should be possible.

After a boost with the change of manager the team are back where they were. Struggling to score goals and take the opportunity to take control of games. Amadi-Holloway was very solid at the back and was man of the match. 

This may be Hodgkiss’ last season. He has been a class act illustrated by his coming over to the Bulls fans and acknowledging them and offering an explanation for the result.