The magic of the cup or a bowl of cawl

Hereford's Goalscorers - Lassana Mendes and Yusifu Ceesay

Nigel Preece watched Hereford defeat Anstey Nomads in the FA Cup at Edgar Street.

Here's his report:

I assumed it must be cup fever causing standing room only on the train up from Cardiff this morning. 

Sadly it was more the attraction of cawl and cider than Ronnie Radford as the train emptied at Abergavenny. The food festival. Had a good day out there in the past myself. 

Talking of hospitality and shops i'd like to mention here the positive impact a match has on the Hereford economy. Perhaps a little low key today but the number of people like me who travel from far and wide shouldn't be sniffed at; collectively we spend a lot of money. I bought some lunch in the Butter Market, some cracking independent businesses there, followed by my normal pre match in the Barrels. 

On to the game. A bit of a change in line up. Four at the back, Howkins and Downing in the middle, Skinner and Cranston on the flanks. Lyden joined Teixeira in the holding role, Babos with the forward license. Rooney up top, Stanley on the right, the other new signing Ceesay on the left. The bench was a player short, several missing including normal regulars Cameron and Southern both injured, Hewlett not made available by his parent club, though Solihull were happy for Ryley to play if needed. 

It was Ceesay who made an immediate impact as we attacked the Meadow End first half, two or three early threatening runs and it wasn't long before he opened the scoring with a controlled shot across the goal from 15 yards. It looked like it had to be blocked but several players and the heavyweight keeper somehow missed it, like a slightly comical game of inverse Frogger (that pinpoints my age) and the ball nestled nicely in the far corner.

If the sparse crowd hoped we'd go for the jugular I and they were mistaken, the game settled into a similar pattern to recent home games; lots of possession 40 yards from goal with little penetration. To be fair we looked like we were trying to draw out a packed and organised Anstey defence but other than one pinged shot over the bar from Babos and the odd burst from Ceesay we didn't really threaten. The visitors had one decent chance, Pond blocking a shot from a narrow angle but other than that it was one way traffic without us looking like adding to the lead. Right on half time, Cranston played a nice through ball to the ever willing Ceesay but the chance, from a similar position to his goal, was clipped well over the bar. 

Cranston Was Brought Down But The Free Kick Came To Nothing

I scribbled the above sat on the terrace at half time. Plenty of space sadly, it would have been preferable if prices had been reduced a little, but I'm assuming the opposition wouldn't agree to that, not that we were informed either way; we don't need the full Karen Brady (yes, I know, that's a long time ago, for those not as long in the tooth it was a League Cup tie away at Birmingham City) but an honest comment from the club would help placate understandable grumbling among the fan base. 

Anstey started more positively second half, which did allow us a little more space, a couple of chances created, Babos really should have scored from one, shooting well wide from only a few yards out. 

Babos Heads The Ball Down Towards Rooney But The Chance Is Missed

Just after the hour the two new players were understandably subbed, along with Rooney. Mendes, Singh and Arthur coming on. This signalled the start of a very frustrating period of play. I'm sure 451 wasn't the intention, but that was the outcome, Arthur left on his own up front without any support from those behind him, the wide players tucked in the middle of the park rather than stretching limited opposition. Caddis, no doubt, as I did, expected us to take control with our more skillful and sharp players but it just didn't happen. Anstey started to win the ball in midfield and several times the ball pinged round the edge of our area as the crowd started to express their nervousness. 

Clearly the frustration spread to our players, Singh, so impressive last time I saw him at Chester, was fortunate to escape with just a yellow for a grim late challenge. 

Thankfully our opponents, while willing and enthusiastic, lacked the class to create anything worthwhile but it took until injury time for the game to be made safe. By then Anstey's shape, so solid for much of the afternoon, had gone and opportunities came and went, Stanley hit the bar, a succession of excellent attacking positions were squandered, before we broke in numbers, Babos was put through, his poor initial effort was blocked by the keeper, 

but he kept his head when many would have lashed the rebound into Waitrose car park and squared the ball to Mendes who finished with ease. 

A win is a win, it felt relief rather than joy, hopefully the draw will be favourable again on Monday. Nevertheless, it's great to be in the next round, a cup run is always important and after criticising the club (perhaps unfairly) for match day prices, the least they could do is announce that those who attended today will get priority for tickets in the event of us progressing like last season. 

Late Chance For Stanley

Final mention around the game, I must give credit to Anstey Nomads players for a decent effort and, more importantly, their 100 supporters who made a din throughout the game. 

A quick pint in the Beer in Hand after the game, a little more money in the coffers of another excellent local outlet, a very peaceful train turned into a rammed one at Abergavenny. Clearly some had enjoyed their cider more than their cawl. 

 Roll on next week, more money for Hereford businesses with another home game, against that grim northern outpost, Bishop's Stortford.