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After taking a two goal lead and defending well until deep into the second half a late formation change allowed Aldershot to claw back the deficit in the final five minutes to deny The Bulls a first win of the season. An early Tristan Plummer penalty gave the Bulls the lead and the Bristol City player doubled his tally with twelve minutes remaining before late goals from Hylton and Morgan gabbed a share of the spoils for The Shots.
Manager Trewick fielded what seemed the strongest available team employing a five-man midfield with loan striker Lee Morris. Green and Valentine filed the fullback slots with Darren Jones and Richard Rose paired in the central defensive roles. Pugh and Plummer occupied the flanks with Tolley, Lunt and Southam in the heart of midfield. Former Bull, John Grant started on the bench for Aldershot.
The initial skirmishes produced little apart from a Hudson effort that squirted across Bartlett’s goal but from the clearance, Hereford forced a corner, which resulted in the first goal. Lunt’s flag-kick was sent to the far post and was met by a thumping Darren Jones goalbound header, which struck the arm of Hinchelwood. The referee awarded a penalty, which Tristan Plummer drilled low to the keepers right to give the visitors a third minute lead. The Shots rallied well with Donnelly in centre midfield needing to be marshalled carefully as he probed for openings. His through ball towards Harding required a timely tackle from Ryan Green which although fair, saw the Aldershot player leave the field to be replaced by Grant. Morgan then glanced a header wide from six yards before Donnelly brought a smart save from Bartlett. At the other end, Shots keeper Jaimez-Ruiz had to be quickly off his line to deny Morris while John Grant missed the target with header when well placed. Marc Pugh then nipped between two defenders but his snapshot was deflected clear. The Shots produced a period of sustained pressure, which saw the Bulls defending deep, and Bartlett had to be at his best to beat out a Hudson shot from close range. Bartlett’s awareness also kept out a crisp attempt from Donnelly but the playmaker was generally being controlled by the Bulls central trio. Plummer and Pugh were both threatening down the wings and also tracking back well for their defensive duties. Plummer forced a corner, which was cleared, and the same player was back to clear the Shots counter-attack. Valentine surged forward to produce a chance for Pugh who shot just wide of the post and Morgan wasted a similar opportunity as the first period ended.
HT Aldershot 0 HUFC 1
Lunt’s chipped forward ball found Morris fractionally offside while an Aldershot long throw was flicked on by Morgan and Grants header was saved by Bartlett at the foot of the post. Southam did well to divert Morgan’s cross shot for a corner and the resulting flag-kick was headed over by Winfield. While the hosts were having the lion’s share of possession, there were chances at both ends. Morgan continued to be a threat while Trewick replaced the hard working Morris with the fresh legs of Jackson with twenty minutes to go. The youngster’s enthusiasm and movement caused problems while Plummer and Pugh continued to pose the may threats from their wide positions although Plummer was increasingly finding his way into the centre and his run was well spotted by Lunt to produce the Bulls second goal of the afternoon. Pugh had attacked down the left and forced a hacked clearance from the Shots back line, which was quickly returned, by Lunt and Plummer found the net from an extremely tight angle with twelve minutes remaining. Bulls fans were looking forward to celebrating the first victory of the season as Herefords midfield continued to be supported by the industry of Pugh and Plummer. It really should have been a case of seeing the game out by closing down in midfield and staying firm at the back but Trewick chose to replace the lively Plummer with Constantine and The Shots immediately took control of the central area. Donnelly and John Halls started to thread balls forward and a cross from the right just avoided Richard Rose attempted header to find substitute Daniel Hylton at the back post who crashed his header passed Bartlett with just over four minutes of normal time left on the clock. Just a minute later, the scores were level. Donnelly picked out Morgan’s diagonal run into the box and the big striker turned the ball passed Bartlett to complete the late fight-back in front of 3094 that included around 250 supporting The Bulls.
FT Aldershot 2 HUFC 2
This seems like two points lost after an enterprising eighty minutes from Trewicks men and while the replacement of Morris by Jackson gave renewed impetus, there really didn’t seem the need to make further repairs to something that wasn’t broke.
HUFC: - Bartlett, Green, Rose, D Jones, Valentine, Plummer (Constantine, 82 min), Lunt, Southam, Tolley, Pugh, Morris (Jackson, 69 min).
Subs not used: Adamson, Lowe, C Jones, Done, McCallum.
Aldershot: Jaimez-Ruiz; Blackburn, Hinshelwood (Hylton, 74 min), Winfield, Sandell; Soares, Halls, Donnelly, Harding (Grant, 15 min), Hudson; Morgan.
Subs not used: Masters, Straker, Chalmers, Hopkinson, Connolly.
Referee: David Phillips (Sussex).
Fishing for a win in Grimsby?
