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| Lawson D'Ath Scored Hereford's Goal |
'One shivering supporter' reports from Leamington.
The match build-up had been dominated by what seems like a now-fortnightly weather warning; thankfully, the nasty stuff had long-gone by matchday morning. In fact, it felt positively balmy setting off from Hereford. Three things greeted you on arrival to the ground - the changed line-up, the pitch, and freezing cold.
There were two changes to the starting XI - no Ceesay (injured), and no wingers in fact, as White was on the bench. They were replaced by Williams and Bartley. The players warmed up near the “away corner” with the pitch looking particularly cut-up on the conclusion of their drills. Fortunately, whilst the pitch was no doubt claggy, it played quite well.
Hereford almost had a dream start in the first minute, with Robinson breaking down the right before crossing into Williams, who flicked it onto Cowley, whose header brought out a fantastic reaction save from Hawkins, who managed to tip the ball over the bar. This was followed by promising early minutes for Hereford, who had chances via a Cowley chip and Howkins header, neither of which caused the keeper any real alarm.
The deadlock was broken in the 10th minute when a long ball was met at the far post by Leamington’s Turner, who couldn’t believe his luck and the space afforded by Hereford’s retreating defence - he capitalised with a looping header over Donaghy.
The rest of the first half largely belonged to Leamington, with Hereford struggling to get a foothold in the game, perhaps with the complete change to the formation (what that formation was not always being that obvious, admittedly from a pretty poor vantage point), but also with credit to Stewart and Walker for the Brakes, who, much like Kidderminster, prevented Hereford from having the time on the ball they needed.
Whilst better defensive organisation should have prevented a goal from a hopeful punt forward, Hereford could have no complaints with the 1-0 half time scoreline. As the half grew, it felt like a ‘get in the changing rooms 1-0 down’ kind of half. It could/should have been 2-0 but for a Stewart header going agonisingly close to Donaghy’s left hand post.
Both teams remerged for the second half unchanged. Whatever happened in said changing room worked, with D’Ath picking up the ball inside the Brakes’ half before bursting forward and unleashing a low drive to the keeper’s right, into the bottom corner.
This equaliser ignited Hereford’s best spell of the match, though Hereford were nonetheless limited to half chances by Cowley and Howkins. The prolonged spell was ended by Leamington’s second goal, against the run of play. Leamington’s Meredith made space on the right before finding Landers in the box, who was afforded the space to shoot low to the keeper’s right.
Whilst Hereford had time to get back into the game, Leamington also had something to protect; they defended their lead well through a combination of both legal and illegal break-up play as Hereford tried to go again. In fairness to the Brakes, it was more of the former than the latter, although a “professional” foul at the cost of a yellow for the host prevented Campbell breaking free on the halfway line – frustrating, but clever.
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| Was This Handball? |
As time ticked away, Hereford were creating chances when allowed-to by stubborn Leamington; a header wide by Howkins, tame efforts by Cowley and White, and a thunderous shot by Bartley that was beaten away in the 73rd minute.
A now-desperate Hereford won a soft penalty in the dying minutes of normal time via the hand of Quaynor, which stopped a shot by White.
White took on responsibility for the penalty, which Leamington’s defender Streete ensured was delayed by encroaching in the area on several occasions. Hereford supporters felt he was fortunate not to get a yellow - if he had of, it would have been worth it as the delay was surely unhelpful to White. White hit the penalty well enough to the keeper’s right, but the keeper was equal to it, diving the right way and palming it away to safety.
Hereford had five minutes of additional time to get back in the game, but Leamington saw out the game with relative ease, even getting the ball in the net from an offside position in the dying minutes as Hereford pressed for an equaliser.
Whilst a draw wouldn’t have been an unjust, Leamington were also worthy of the three points - their man of the match Callum Hawkins, between the sticks, can take much credit.
Although New Year’s Day is a traditional matchday to travel in numbers, when you consider that some would have been put-off by the weather warning, others by a Kidderminster mauling, a decent 502 shivering fans were present in the away end. Unfortunately, the away end in question made it particularly difficult to generate the sort of encouragement that the players need when up against it.
Despite some rare fan grumbles at the end, something that gives hope that the second half of the season could propel us back into the play-off reckoning is the level of support that the club have been able to call upon so far – both in encouragement and numbers. The latter will hopefully bear fruit when the next additions to the squad are required.
Leamington 2 Hereford 1 (HT 1-0)
Goals – Turner (10), D’Ath (46), Landers (63).
Attendance 1,140
Hereford: Donaghy, Hudson ©, Campbell (Mitchell 75), Preston (Rooney 90+2), D’Ath, Babos, Cowley, Williams (Rose 70), Robinson (White 75), Howkins, Bartley. McGlynn was an unused substitute.
Leamington: Hawkins, Meredith, Quaynor, Streete, Landers, Walker ©, Stewart, Edwards (Clarke 87), Ward, Williams, Turner (Berridge 87). Medrano, Lynn, and Shambrook were unused substitutes.
Yellow Cards - Hudson, Campbell, Preston; Stewart, Ward.