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| Montgomery Saves From Adam Rooney - Andy Walkden Photo |
Hereford were unchanged at a bright, hot, sunny Spennymoor. Pond; Skinner, Southern, Downing, Captain Cameron, Livingstone; Teixeira, Singh, Babos; Ryley; Rooney. Cranston, Hewlett, Stanley, Mendes and Arthur were on the bench. There were about 60 Bulls fans in the crowd of 1,210. Spennymoor started superbly and bossed the game. Hereford struggled to get a foothold. Only poor final balls, and disappointing finishing stopped the Moors taking the lead they deserved. Nonetheless the Taylor, Harris, Ramshaw triumvirate provided the best and most flowing football I have seen this season in NLN.
Joshua Popoola on loan from Stockport was roasting Livingstone and the Scotsman had no answer to his trickery. One of the most pleasing things about Caddis’ management is how quickly he seeks to resolve problems. After fifteen minutes he swapped Skinner for Livingstone and Aaron got to grips with the winger. Even so a succession of chances were created and the Bulls were fortunate none fell to striker supreme and captain Glen Taylor. Pond made one fine save, and the Bulls fans revived some Wayne Brown chants to honour the custodian. Taylor has gone a little Harry Kane, playing a little deeper and creating as well leading the front line. He remains one of the stand out players in NLN.
At times it was like Spennymoor were playing football and the Bulls rugby. The Moors were playing down the slope in pleasing triangles. The Bulls hit long hopeful balls in to the highest top corner for Ryley to chase. It was almost like kicking for touch to get relief from the ceaseless attacks. Singh was finding the combative midfield a level above Chester and kept getting his foot in, but his passing was not as good as on Tuesday.
Finally Spennymoor took the lead they deserved and it was utterly avoidable. The Bulls set up for a left wing corner which Popoola had won. Ben Pollock held back outside the D. He wandered in to the box and an alert Southern went and got touch tight. Pollock pulled back and in what appeared to be some sort of zonal marking discipline, Southern went back into the centre of the crowded penalty box. Pollock having pulled back waited for the corner which was hit deep. Enjoying the freedom of County Durham he ambled in to the acres of space to have a free header beyond the far post nodding down along the six yard box and Popoola stabbed home.
Cameron spat feathers at his team mates but as captain and defensive organiser the person he should have been most angry with was himself. Ben Pollock was outstanding cruising through the game. His conversion from adequate defensive midfielder to excellent central defender was one of Gowling’s greatest coaching achievements. Finally the Bulls put together some progressive play and Ryley shot just over. Spennymoor could not keep up the pace and verve of their start and the Bulls started to come a little more into the game. Singh was booked for a slightly heavy challenge, or possibly an accumulation of fouls. Spennymoor started to slow the game down taking their time with dead balls and the good referee Jones booked Montgomery when he lingered over a goal kick.
At half time Hereford were fortunate to only be a goal down and the performance had been reminiscent in parts of Tamworth. Caddis changed things. He went to a 5-2-3 with Babos pushed on, or 3-4-3 depending on possession. Perhaps Spennymoor were surprised but it worked. The Bulls had more of the game but struggled to find a cutting edge. Skinner got booked for the foul of the season so far. Quick passing saw the wide man Popoola on the half way line. Aaron wouldn’t win the foot race, none of the Bulls backline would catch up. He slid in and only just missed nicking the ball, but his challenge safely on the ground also caught Popoola so he could not escape. A clear yellow and a little spirit of Snape. An intelligent football decision. Ferguson came on for Doherty.
You felt Spennymoor could still go up a level but as Bulls fans will be familiar, there was lots of decent football but nothing to trouble the Moors keeper. It took a bad slice by centre back Mbeka to present Rooney with a golden opportunity. He shot hard at a comfortable height and Montgomery made a good save. Hard and low or into the roof of the net looked better options. With only a single goal deficit Caddis decided that his three musketeers could come on and see if they could repeat their Chester heroics. Arthur on for a tiring Singh, then Stanley replaced Ryley, and finally Mendes for Livingstone who had a disappointing game. Fielding replaced Greening and Skinner saw off Popoola with McKeown coming on.
The game became more open and Pond made a fine double save from Fielding and then Harris. Then Mendes cut in from the right and his clever clipped chip had the keeper beaten but bounced off the bar. Mendes fired in a cross but Rooney couldn’t quite get to the ball to convert. Hereford were pushing for an equaliser and left space in midfield. Taylor found Ramshaw who played through the pass of the day perfectly weighted inside Cameron. Harris raced on to it drew Pond and clipped over him for a quality striker’s finish.
The score was a fair reflection overall. A far better second half performance. Pond was his usual excellent self. He’s earned enough credit to be allowed a mistake or two. Downing impressed, he is one of the best passers in the team. My man of the match would be Skinner. When switched to left back he staunched the flow of attacks via Popoola. He got forward well and played carefully once on a necessary yellow.
A few random thoughts. Popoola was far better than any of the loanees the Bulls have recruited. Ryley gradually gets better each game but perhaps needs to think that the Ns in NLN often relate to noise and nastiness. He is getting better at the physical battles, riding two challenges well in the second half but Spennymoor were happy to push and foul. Kian clearly has great parents who brought him up well to be polite. However, his team mates and management wanted him shouting and demanding the ball more. He is also being constantly coached into where he should be, usually further up the pitch. He’s being asked to play main, striker, second striker, in the hole, on the wing or in midfield depending on the match situation. You can see a player serving his apprenticeship whilst the masters are injured.
Two Northern Bulls seeing the team for the first time found the performance all too familiar from previous seasons.
The Bulls tried at times to bring off a high press on Cameron’s command in the second half. It never quite came off and looked like it needed more practice. A Ledbury Bull tells me that in Sky’s Mission to Burnley, Vicent Kompany says you only really know how good your team is after over 100 training sessions. The Bulls will have had maybe 40 or so and at times you can see other sides have greater familiarity and that’s an advantage. Nothing we can do as fans other than be patient.
Every time you visit Spennymoor they have gone up a level. The legends mural on one side of the ground. Now they have three bars with seating areas inside the ground under cover, no missing five minutes to beat the lengthy Radford queue. What gladdened my heart this year was the glossy programme with scores of free team sheets. It was delightful to see under tens asking substitutes warming up to sign their autographs. The lads were thrilled and the subs chuffed that they mattered. You can’t replicate those sort of proper football encounters and memories digitally.