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Rochdale equalised with a last minute effort to, in the end, snatch themselves a point in a tie that they dominated throughout. It was the second penalty that referee Colin Webster had awarded in as many minutes, however Hereford fans and players seemingly had more reason for complaint as Dean Beckwith was penalised at the last possible moment.
The decision would have angered Graham Turner as much as the news that Stuart Fleetwood would miss out due to international duty, meaning a chance for Andy Williams to impress, in the only change to the side. However, the youngster saw little of the ball, especially in the first half, but did manage to record United's only shot on target in the first forty five minutes.
Dale eased through the opening half as they brushed Hereford's midfield aside with some slick passing and good movement. Also with the towering Morike Sako in attack, Dale were causing The Bulls plenty of problems. It was Sako who fired in an early warning sign, as his snap-shop flew over Scott Tynan's bar. Tynan was called into action when defender Joe Doolan strolled forward before unleashing a powerful effort, which Tynan tipped over brilliantly. Dale, for all their possession, hadn't made it count by half time though.
Dale resumed their dominance following the interval, as Lee Crookes saw a long range effort deflected behind, before Keith Barker squandered a glorious opportunity that came out of nothing. He, more by luck than judgement, controlled a long clearance and found himself beyond the Hereford backline, but embarrasingly sliced the best chance of the game, as of then, wide.
Rose diverted a Martyn Giles cross wide in a rare United attempt, before Sako struck the cross bar for the home side. Rochdale countered down the left through Chris Dagnall, who cut back to Sako six yards out, but his effort rattled the woodwork. A minute later Tynan was called upon to save at his near post from Dagnall, while at the other end Trent McClenahan's crashing effort took a deflection and went behind for a corner. Dean Beckwith met the resulting corner with a header, edging the wrong side of the near post, where Tamika Mkandawire couldn't get quite enough contact on the ball, which would have taken it into the back of the net.
Beckwith heading the ball from Purdie's corner
With ten minutes remaining McClenahan, who had just gone down hurt, was replaced by Alan Connell, yet Turner still remained with a 4-5-1 formation, which he adopted during the first half, with Williams and Connell playing out wide. Williams was almost made to pay for not tracking back as well with seven minutes to go, as Simon Ramsden delivered a perfect ball across the goal face but substitute Clive Moyo-Modise was just inches behind the cross at the far post.
Williams made amends for any blame attached to him for allowing the previous chance to arise, as he won his side a penalty in the last minute of normal time, when he beat James Sharp to the ball and the defender felled Williams. Rob Purdie stood up in front of the off-putting home crowd, and converted cooly with a finish down the middle. United's away following of around 200 were celebrating wildly, which was to be expected as they were about to collect three point which they really hadn't deserved. That was, though, until Webster decided to level things up with a very harsh penalty decision.
A cross came in from the left, which Giles headed back to Tynan, who (just!) took the ball into his arms. No appeals were evident from the home side players, but the ref pointed to the spot. Firstly he seemed to signal that the decision was given for a shirt pull, then a moment later, he was signalling it was for a defender "pushing down" on an opponent. Gary Jones didn't mind though, as he levelled things up with what was pretty much the final kick of the game.
A draw two minutes before the end of normal time, would have been a very good point for Hereford, who had survived many near misses through out the game. The performance was poor once again, and the midfield, once again, was often no where to be seen. Dale, like many of United's opponents this season seemed to have too much time on the ball, and dominated for the most part. As it turned out, United will feel aggrieved that they didn't take all three points away from Spotland.
HUFC: Tynan, McClenahan, Beckwith, Mkandawire, Giles, Purdie, Ferrell, Rose, Travis, Williams, Sills. Subs: Gulliver, Thompson, Jeannin, Sheldon, Connell.
RFC: Gilks, Ramsden, Stanton, Sharp, Goodall, Crooks, Doolan, Cooksey, Barker, Dagnall, Sako. Subs: Boardman, Clarke, Jones, Rundle, Moyo-Modise.
