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On a sunny afternoon at Edgar Street, the Bulls welcomed a Rochdale side already assured of a long awaited promotion, but rather jaded after their defeat at Notts County. For their part, the home side had little to play for, and a predictably tepid first half had a distinct end of term feel to it. After the interval, a much more eventful passage of play saw Hereford deservedly defeat their opponents, and climb to 15th position in the table, the loftiest of the entire season except for a 4 day period in early December.
Graham Turner, sporting a dapper business suit as he took charge for almost the last time, welcomed back the talismanic Ryan Green, with Keith Lowe making way in an otherwise unchanged team. Rochdale were first to threaten with Gary Jones probing from midfield and releasing Andy Howarth who shot well over. Chris Dagnall looked lively up front for the Dale, and Jason Kennedy should have hit the target when well placed. Craig King played a lovely through ball to Mathieu Manset, but the Frenchman was en retard with his effort, and the shot was blocked.
Darren Jones looked assured at the heart of the Bulls defence, and, in a light hearted moment, showed the yellow card to referee Mr Webb who had dropped it. Adam Bartlett made a fine diving save from Dagnall, who connected with a clever pass from Chris O’Grady, and the keeper was again on hand to deny Howarth at the end of a quick-fire passing movement involving Dagnall, O’Grady and Temitope Obadeyi. Manset found the overlapping Green, but the shot went across goal. Green then reverted to defensive duties and put in an expert blocking tackle to cut out a Howarth centre.
With neither side able to conjure up the telling final ball, the game drifted towards a welcome break. James McQuilkin overhit a pass which would have unleashed the Beast, and a Tom Kennedy free kick, rather harshly awarded just outside the box, did not trouble Bartlett.
HT: HUFC 0 ROCHDALE 0
There had been little to suggest the entertainment on offer after the half-time oranges had been sucked. Manset chased a pass from Gavin McCallum and did well to reach it, though he could not stop it from going for a throw. The striker then showed his moves with some Ronaldoesque stepovers, and McCallum’s wayward shot was not a fitting conclusion to the move.
At the other end, Dagnall shot straight at Bartlett and Howarth’s effort on goal was high and wide. Obadeyi, one of few professional sportsmen mentioned in a Beatles song (well, almost) went on a mazy run and evaded a desperate lunge by Valentine before losing his footing. Then, as the end to end play continued, the match had its first goal with the clock showing 52 minutes. An enterprising Bulls move down the right that involved McQuilkin and Manset saw an angled shot from McCallum beat the onrushing Frank Fielding in the Dale goal. As the ball trundled goalwards, a covering defender was prevented from clearing by the bustling Craig King, who forced it home.
Marc Pugh was proving a handful as Hereford tried to press home their advantage. Beating two opponents, he passed to McQuilkin, who appeared to be marginally offside. However, no flag was forthcoming, but a moment’s hesitation by the midfielder was sufficient for Fielding to live up to his name. Manset and Green, ever more an attacking option at this stage of the game, cleverly set Kenny Lunt free. Lunt’s cheeky turn inside was topped off with a curling shot that was deflected for a corner. Pugh’s flag kick to the far post caused concern to the defence, but Ryan Valentine was heading away from goal when he was clearly tugged back. The penalty was duly awarded.
Clearly Manset wanted so very much to take the kick, that Valentine had to employ all his powers of diplomacy, not to mention a rather daring spot of wrestling to extricate the ball from the Frenchman’s grasp. The kick was brilliantly parried by Fielding, but luckily for the Bulls went straight back to Valentine, who buried the rebound. 61 minutes gone, 2-0 to Hereford and a kiss-and-make-up between Manset and his Valentine.
Naturally the comfort zone is an area little frequented by the Bulls this season, so of course Rochdale halved the deficit in the time it takes to unwrap a mint humbug. On 62 minutes, sub Joe Thompson did appear to push Valentine during a forceful run down the right wing, but nothing was given, and his pinpoint cross was headed home by Gary Jones, a just reward for an impressive player. Hereford, rather than resorting to a defensive approach, attempting to hold on to their lead, chose instead to continue to attack. Ryan Green embarked on a marauding run, which finished in the penalty area, and their seemed some merit in his claim that the foul given against him was in fact a fair shoulder charge. The defender then pulled down Dagnall just outside his own box, and the free kick took a slight deflection before being beaten out by Bartlett.
The late introduction of Matty Done gave fresh impetus to the Hereford tactics. One of his corners was punched clear to Pugh, whose cross to the far post was only just too high for McCallum. Frustratingly, a Green cross was then met with a glancing McCallum header, to which newly introduced sub Leon Constantine was slow to react. Rochdale stepped up a gear, and O’Grady’s pass to Jones needed a timely block from namesake Darren. As time ran out, Fielding, clad in even brighter orange than our away kit, presumably as part of a Tango sponsorship deal, even went into the Meadow end to retrieve the ball on one occasion, but the remaining time passed without further ado.
FT: HUFC 2 ROCHDALE 1
Attendance: 1975, including 341 from Spotland.
HUFC: Bartlett, Valentine, Rose, Green, Jones, Pugh, McQuilkin, Lunt, McCallum, King (Done 81), Manset (Constantine 81).
Rochdale: Fielding, T.Kennedy, Wiseman, McArdle, Dawson, J.Kennedy (Toner 63), Jones, Haworth (Higginbotham 57), Dagnall, Obadeji (Thompson56), O’Grady.
