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| Jason Cowley |
Harwood Bull reports from Farsley.
Paul Caddis isn’t the sort of chap you’d pick an argument with, and there was certainly no disagreeing with his typically honest post-match assessment that the game at Farsley was rubbish. It was certainly one of the worst games I’ve seen for quite some time.
Much was made of the poor quality of the pitch before the game and Caddis made changes to his starting eleven in with that in mind, expecting a more physical game. While it’s not a great surface at Farsley it didn’t strike me as being that bad, but again, who am I to argue?
Part of Hereford’s preparation for a physical battle was lining up with three centre backs – Southern, Downing and Cranston. This allowed Skinner to get forward from right back, but when he was defending they sometimes reverted to a back four with Cranston moving across to cover the left flank, sometimes Ceesay dropped back to cover that side. Pugh and Mendes made up the midfield with a front three of Cowley, Freemantle and Rooney, with Rooney often dropping a bit deeper to try and link the play up.
Due to a poor choice of route on my part I arrived late and didn’t see the first 15 minutes. I’m reliably informed that I didn’t miss very much. In fact if I’d arrived at half time the same comment would have applied. Hereford’s best chance came after 35 minutes when Ceesay made himself an opening to shoot, with has effort only just wide. On another occasion Freemantle got away down the right flank but with Cowley sprinting up in support Freemantle’s cross was over hit and went for a throw in on the opposite side.
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| Cowley Battled Well All Afternoon |
For most of the time possession was traded harmlessly with a succession of aimless high balls back and forth. Neither side seemed to even want to try and get the ball down and pass it. Downing was his usual calm presence in the centre of defence and Southern and Cranston looked solid either side of him. It was all pretty uninspiring though.
Half time: Farsley Celtic 0 Hereford 0
After the break it was more of the same but the Bulls did start to put Farsley under pressure, without creating any clear cut chances. Farsley’s best hope of breaking the deadlock was the pacy Dylan Youmbi, on loan from Bradford City. Pond made a good save from his low shot in the 66th minute. Hereford’s keeper also had to react quickly on a couple of occasions rushing out to hack the ball clear when Farsley threatened quick breaks.
As the game entered the last 10 minutes both sides sensed that the game was there to be won. The Bulls best chance came from a corner on the right which resulted in a scramble in the goal area.
The ball came out to Cranston who picked out Cowley at the far post, but his powerful header was well saved by the home keeper.
With a minute left Cowley put Ceesay through but his shot was high and well wide. At the other end Southern did what he’d been doing all afternoon, intervening to stifle Farsley’s final chance of the day.
A point each is a fair reflection of the play. Lots of effort and commitment but not much quality.
Final Score: Farsley Celtic 0 Hereford 0
Hereford: Pond, Skinner, Downing, Ceesay, Cowley, Cranston, Pugh, Mendes, Southern, Rooney, Freemantle (Babos 76)
Subs: Livingstone, Teixeira, Tolley, Stanley
Farsley Celtic: Leban, C Atkinson, Smith, Evans, Misambo, Assenso, B Atkinson, Watson, Youmbi, Branson, Silva
Subs: Allan, Leverett, Carroll, Wadsworth, Allen
I find it hard to say much else about the afternoon. It seemed that Hereford had convinced themselves that the pitch was so awful that the only thing to do was lump it long all day. Not a great tactic when there’s no real target man in the side. Ah well, a point’s better than nothing.
The meat and potato pie was OK, but even that couldn’t lift the spirits.
Three home games in quick succession now, with 2nd place Scunthorpe the biggest challenge of the three. Targeting seven points out of the nine available doesn’t seem unrealistic, and that’s the sort of form we need to be in contention for the playoffs.