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Another Hereford United old boy came back to haunt them last night as David Brown, who left for Accrington Stanley towards the end of last season, netted a fifty fifth minute winner to put his current side level on points at the top of the Conference.
Hereford's only change to the starting eleven was at the back where Tony James was recalled to the line up with Darren Blewitt making way. There was no place on the bench for Graham Evans and so Andy Williams took his place.
Within ten minutes of play, The Bulls already found themselves behind, although it was a controversial opener. Paul Mullin, who'd already been denied by Wayne Brown, collected the ball from a throw in and flicked it on for Ian Craney, who was one of two Accy players in an offside position, and he calmly slotted into the bottom corner. Hereford, who enjoyed large amounts of possession, failed to really trouble Darren Randolph until twenty minutes in, when a powerful free kick from Alex Jeannin was palmed behind for a corner.
Four minutes after, Andy Ferrell was given a golden opportunity to level things up, but after Randolph had denied Matt Bailey, he somehow managed to deny Ferrell who only had to force the ball over the line from no more than two yards. Hereford continued to have the better of things, but yet again didn't really trouble Randolph; Bailey came closest before the break with a header that went over the bar from a Jeannin corner.
United came out for the second half with renewed energy and pegged Accrington back within a minute of the restart. Craig Stanely dogged down Anthony Barry in the midfield, and played a perfect through ball for Danny Carey-Bertram who neatly slipped a shot beyond the reach of the 'keeper and into the far bottom corner. Hereford went onto enjoy their best spell of the game but the hosts replied against the run of play.
A corner, conceded by James when he blocked a shot, was flicked onto the far post where Brown was on hand to acrobatically smash the ball into the roof of the net for his sixth goal of the season. This was the last real threat that Accy really posed to the Hereford goal, but despite all the pressure from United, they couldn't find a second equaliser.
Man of the match Stanley tried to find some more passes to match his earlier one that assisted Carey-Bertrams goal, but with little success. With around twenty five minutes to go, Jeannin handed a perfect chance to Bailey with a cross whipped in from the left, but somehow the loanee failed, under no evident pressure from a marker, to connect with the goal gaping from little more than a yard out.
Frustration began to grow for Hereford, both on the pitch and on the terrace, not helped by the replacement of perhaps United's greatest threat Carey-Bertram, who seemed to pick up a hamstring injury. Andy Williams came on, and impressed and was perhaps unlucky not to do better with a couple of his efforts. Andy Ferrell was booked for dissent late on and Accrington held on to gain a valuable three points.
It has to be asked, how many more poor results can the pre-season favourites afford before the championship is out of their reach, even at this stage of the season. The increasingly worrying lack of goals needs to be resolved very quickly, and this perhaps will not be helped with the news that top scorer Carey-Bertram picked up an injury last night, although it is unknown how serious it is. The Bulls need to find some form very soon indeed, if they are to continue their promotion challegne, after yet another defeat in front of 1,603; the largest attendance at the Interlink Express Stadium this season.
HUFC: Brown, Green, Mkandawire, James, Jeannin, Purdie, Ferrell, Stanley, Brady, Bailey, Carey-Bertram. Subs: Blewitt, Beckwith, Mawson, Pitman, Williams.
ASFC: Randolph, Richardson, Flynn, Welch, Butler, Jagielka, Barry, Craney, Roberts, Mullin, Brown. Subs: Dibble, Cook, Ventre, Navarro, Mangan.
