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Trialist Sam Alsop scoring Hereford's first goal with Jamie Price (originally from the Hereford area). Picture by Andy Compton.
Hereford United fought back from two goals down to claim a decent draw against a Birmingham youth side. Played on a fine summers afternoon, Birmingham raced into an early lead and doubled it halfway through the half before trialist Sam Allsop and Andy Williams scored to earn United a draw.
Jon Wallis started after recovering from his shoulder injury, whilst Stuart Fleetwood led the line with Tim Sills. Trialist Allsop started alongside Rob Purdie whilst another trialist Steven May partnered captain Dean Beckwith at the back.
It didn't take long for the away side to get going and it was Allsop who was at fault when The Blues took the lead. His sloppy pass led to a cross from the left and Clive Allen netted with a simple header. Hereford looked for a quick reply and Sills nearly found it when his persistance led to an opening but his lob from a tight angle struck the post, soon after Gareth Sheldon's run in from the left and shot was just over the bar.
On 15 minutes, United won a corner and Purdie delivered well, Fleetwood missed a decent heading opportunity before a scramble in the box led to Richard Rose skying from all of two yards. Yet despite the pressure from Hereford, it was once again Birmingham who were more clinical. Burge did well to find space in the box and his shot was deflected, giving Wayne Brown no chance as the ball looped over him into the far corner.
The lively Nick Wright from the away side went close on two occasions within minutes, proving a handful with his strong running but it was Hereford who managed to score the next goal. Fleetwood collected from Wallis' pass and an intelligent ball through from the former Cardiff striker fell to Alsop, who turned and confidently placed the ball into the corner with his left foot. This gave Hereford a boost and just before half time, Stuart Fleetwood went close to equalising. His strong running enabled him to get the other side of the defence before a delightful chip narrowly missed the top corner.
As expected, The Bulls made many changes to give all players a decent run out. Tamika Mkandawire, Alex Jeannin, Stephen Smith, Andy Connell and Andy Williams all came on, replacing Simon Travis, Rose, Purdie, Fleetwood, Sills. Immediately after the restart, Williams was involved, turning neatly past the defender before cutting back to Wallis who from close range forced Adam Legdzins into a decent save. The equaliser came just four minutes later though, with Williams grabbing it. Connell played an excellent ball through and Williams pace took him past the defence and from the edge of the area, he neatly slotted home.
Birmingham thought they were back in front five minutes later, when number 9 got on the end of a free-kick forcing Brown into an excellent diving save and despite strong appeals that the ball had gone over the line, nothing was given. May was booked for a strong challenge before Sheldon and Wallis made way for Davion Hamilton and Joe Stibble. Shortly after, Andy Ferrell and Sam Gwynne also made appearences replacing Dean Beckwith and Sam Allsop.
The game ended slowly for both sides as chances decreased, Birmingham's best opportunity fell to Wright who once again after showing some great pace, burst through the Hereford defence to meet a through ball, and despite going past Brown, Jeannin covered superbly to make a goal saving tackle. Connell once again showed great intelligence to find Williams who held the ball up and created a chance for fellow sub, Hamilton but his left drive was wide. Karl Lewis played the final ten minutes after replacing Wayne Brown, but had little to do in an ending that saw neither side looking like grabbing a winner.
Despite the Meadow End being closed, 856 turned up at Edgar Street to see an entertaining draw. Once again, there were many impressive individual performances, notably May, who had a strong game, showing his ability to play at different positions and decent all round game. Next up for The Bulls is Westfields in the Herefordshire County Cup, which should be a much easier test than todays opponents.
Hereford (starting XI): Brown, Travis, Rose, May, Beckwith, Wallis, Purdie, Allsop, Sheldon, Sills, Fleetwood.
