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As one diehard fan commented as he left Gigg Lane this afternoon “well, at least we solved the conceding a late goal problem by conceding early!” It was a slightly harsh reaction as from this writer’s position; the free kick that led to the single goal should never have been awarded.
John Trewick replaced the injured Richard Rose by moving Keith Lowe to a central role and brought in Sam Gwynne at right back while Craig King was recalled to the starting line-up with Manset dropping to the bench.
The match was barely two minutes old when Bury scored the only goal of the game. Darren Jones dispossessed Ryan Lowe as The Bulls’ defender took the ball and cleared to a wide area. Lowe, who appeared to be behind Lowe at the time tumbled to the ground and the referee awarded awarded a free kick just outside the penalty box. Mike Jones stepped up and curled the ball passed the unsighted Bartlett into the top corner of the net. Hereford grafted to get a grip on the game but Bury in the early stages did look the more purposeful. A sweeping move down the right involving Gwynne and Pugh saw Wayne Brown quickly off his line to clear before Bury broke with a swift diagonal move which ended with Dawson snatching his shot wide of Bartlett’s far post. Valentine and Done combined well down the left but the final ball came to nothing. Although the game swung from end to end, it was Bury who were prepared to try their luck on goal as Worrell and Lowe both saw efforts go close. The Bulls only effort of note in the first period was a Pugh shot, which was some way off target.
HT Bury 1 HUFC 0
Hereford looked sharper as the second half started but were still suffering from shooting nerves. However, The Bulls might have had a penalty as Craig King burst into the box. While the push from behind was maybe slight, there was definitely contact but the referee waved away the claim as King fell to the ground when well placed. As the saying goes….”we’ve seen them given”. Pugh produced a teasing cross from the right, which was cleared at the expense of a corner before Constantine missed a glorious chance to level the score. A deep cross from the right which was returned into the six-yard box by King fell to the feet of the unmarked striker but with the goal at his mercy, Constantine fired straight at Brown and the ball cannon wide off the keepers knees. Trewick introduced Manset for King as The Bulls looked to increase the threat on the home goal and later replaced Done with McCallum but despite an improvement in the second half, The Bulls still only managed two on target efforts in the whole match….Constantine’s miss from close range and a header which Wayne Brown tipped over from the same striker.
FT Bury 1 HUFC 0
It will be argued that the Bury goal came via a piece of refereeing wizardry and Brown’s renowned shot-stopping denied a goal or two from The Bulls but the fact remains that Bury did produce by far the greater attempts on goal. I’ve seen worse performances but the 120 HUFC fans in the crowd of 2797 could have few complaints about the result.
Hereford: Bartlett, Gwynne, D Jones, Lowe, Valentine, Pugh, Tolley, Lunt, Done (McCallum 72), Constantine, King (Manset 64). Subs not used: Adamson, Weir, C Jones, Sonko, McQuilkin.
Bury: Brown, Scott, Sodje, Futcher, Buchanan, Worrall, Jones, Barry-Murphy, Dawson, Lowe, Morrell (Baker 72). Subs not used: Belford, Cresswell, Allen, Newey.
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