.jpg)
On a wet afternoon at Edgar Street Hereford United snatched a 1-0 victory against bottom side Macclesfield Town, who are yet to win a game this season. United had made one change to the side that were defeated by Bristol Rovers last Wednesday, with Andy Williams taking the place of Tim Sills up front.
Much like the weather, the first half was very dull indeed with few chances for either side. It was the visitors who went closest though through an early free kick, which Wayne Brown scrambled across his line to tip around the post. Martyn Giles saw a header from Rob Purdie's corner blocked, but it fell to the impressive Alan Connell, who hit a good shot on the bounce inches off target.
Both sides were able to retain possession reasonably, but neither looked like making a decisive break through. Dean Beckwith played Stuart Fleetwood away down the right channell, but he was met by 'keeper Tommy Lee in the box, and Fleetwood again made Lee work with a low effort from twenty five yards before referee Alan Wiley brought the half to a close.
United opened a tad more lively, but couldn't make it count when they forced a bit of a mele inside the visitors box, before Macclesfield went close with another good free kick from Matthew Tipton. Brown had to be on his toes again as he pulled off another impressive save to keep his clean sheet in tact.
The sun had shone through in the sky at the start of the second half, and it was Alan Connell who was shining on the pitch, as he picked out Fleetwood with an inch perfect through ball. Fleetwood was quickly away, through on goal, but again Lee got the better of him, rushing out and blocking the shot well.
At the other end Beckwith was on hand to cover Brown the one time he was beaten, as Martin Bullock played a ball around the corner to Tipton, who shot low. Minutes later though, with just ten remaining, the deadlock was broken with a wonderful opportunist goal by Connell. United had attacked on the left, and the ball was played back to Connell twenty yards out, and he shot superbly on the turn in to the far bottom corner, beyond the reach of Lee's outstretched hand, much to the delight of all but the 143 away fans in a crowd of 2,705.
Immediately after, Williams was replaced by Sills, before Connell almost doubled the advantage. Fleetwood suddenly burst into life after a quiet spell down the left, cut back to Connell who awaited on the edge of the box, but his powerful drive was deflected over by Kevin McIntyre for a coner, though Connell and Richard Rose both appealed for hand ball.
Having run down the clock, the victory was almost United's, but Macclesfield had one last throw of the dice with a corner in the second added minute out of three. The ball was played in, spurring a goalmouth scramble, but eventually Brown came out and claimed well to secure the three points for his side.
It is just that, the three points, that were needed by United following their recent run of defeats, but the performance was definately not what was needed. It was in general an unexciting encounter, with few chances, and on very few occasions did The Bulls look like actually scoring. This would be worrying at the best of times, but maybe even more so against the side who are bottom of the league, in front of an home crowd, and still in search of a first win of the season.
HUFC: Brown, Beckwith, Mkandawire, Giles, McClenahan, Travis, Rose, Purdie, Connell, Williams, Fleetwood. Subs: Jeannin, Gulliver, Thompson, Webb, Sills.
MTFC: Lee, Teague, Scott, Swailes, McNulty, Regan, Morley, Navarro, McIntyre, Tipton, Bullock. Subs: Brain, Smart, Hadfield, Miles, Heath.
