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Mathieu Manset and Stuart Fleetwood both bagged a brace of goals as Hereford United saw off their FA Cup second round opponents Lincoln City at Sincil Bank this afternoon in a game littered with both mistakes and fine finishing.
Jamie Pitman named the same side that won at Aldershot while former Bull Gavin McCallum was named on the bench for The Imps.
There were opening attacks by both teams that came to nothing before Bartlett was the first keeper into action when some characteristic defending from The Bulls allowed Ashley Grimes to force a save from the United custodian. The Bulls, however, swept down field in the fourth minute for Manset to open his account when he slid the ball past Joe Anyon from 12 yards after Kenny Lunt had split the home defence with his pass. The game continued to swing precariously from end to end and Bartlett again had to be alert to keep out a header from Grimes as both defences struggled to get any sort of control over matters. Then, on seven minutes, Townsend failed to deal effectively with back post clearance, and Clapham was on hand to scramble the loose ball over the line. The goal seemed to bring the hosts to life and inject, for the first time, some control over the game as The Imps dominated for a period. Carayol and Jarrett produced a string of fine crosses from the flanks that tested The Bulls rearguard while the visitors were restricted to occasional long-ball breakaways with wingbacks Green and Heath kept busy with their defensive duties.
Fortunately, The Imps were being just a generous with their miss-placed passes and when Rose intercepted he was able to find Manset who flicked on to enable Kenny Lunt to turned his marker and feed Fleetwood but the striker saw his 18-yarder cannon off the foot of the post. Then a Green/Lunt move down the right produced another chance for Fleets but his shot rose over the bar before a headed chance was missed at the other end following a poor clearance by Kovacs. Both sides were guilty of giving possession away too cheaply and it was The Bulls who paid the penalty on 24 minutes when Facey seized on a loose ball on the right and cut across the box before firing past Bartlett from just inside the area.
Once again, the goal prompted a period of control by Lincoln but United were back on level terms just 12 minute later following a sudden spell of the type of pass and move football that had been sadly lacking. Ryan Green had advanced to produce a chance for Fleetwood, which had squeezed just wide of the post before a similar move involving Green, Lunt and Manset concluded with The Beast pulling the ball back from the bye-line for Fleetwood to drill home from 12 yards.
This time it was The Bulls who took confidence from a goal as Quilks, Lunt and the busy Featherstone got their passing game going at last. Green and Heath both started to get forward more and the visitors were able, for the first period of the game, to retain some decent possession that eventually resulted in another fine finish after Townsend a thundered a header against the crossbar. Kenny Lunt was unceremoniously dumped on his backside just outside the Lincoln box but referee Mathieson allowed the advantage and Fleetwood smacked home a curling 25-yard shot that left Anyon flatfooted as the ball nestled into the far corner of the net a couple of minutes before the break.
HT Lincoln 2 Bulls 3
The interval conversations naturally involved wild predictions of how many mistakes and goals would be seen in the second period and it wasn’t long before the teams were at it again. Just three minutes after the oranges, Lincoln were level. A half clearance fell to Grimes who produced a carbon copy of Fleetwood’s curler to, this time; leave Bartlett to pick the ball out of the net.
The quality of play deteriorated for a while with the ball pinging backwards and forwards and frequently being hoofed out for a stream of throw-ins that came to little. McQuilkin found Fleetwood with a neat pass but The Bulls’ striker was thwarted by a block tackle a he shaped to shoot before Kovacs headed the resulting corner kick over from just a yard out. Fleetwood was unlucky when Anyon just got a hand to the ball as he tried to dink the ball over the keeper and at the other end, Grimes went close when his effort skidded just wide of Bartlett post. Then with 20 minute remaining, The Bulls re-took the lead with Lunt once again the provider as he laid the ball into the path of Manset who fired home first time into the corner of the net from just inside the box.
Buoyed by the goal, The Bulls launched a series of attacks and might have had a penalty when Manset was body-checked to the ground having slipped the ball past defender Swaibu. Interestingly, just a minute later when Heath’s progress was blocked in identical fashion just outside the box, the referee blew up immediately. How strange that different rules should apply just five yards apart!
The Bulls were now looking by far the better side and McQuilkin went on a mazy run before testing Anyon with a low shot before Bauza was introduced to replace Manset. Jarrett saw his rising effort clear Bartlett’s bar and Facey was foiled by a late Richard Rose block before Joe Heath saw an effort almost catch Anyon unawares. Then The Bulls had a let-off when indecision between Rose and Bartlett almost let Facey in again but The Bulls’ keeper recovered to drop on the ball and clear the danger. The Bulls fans who looked number around a couple of hundred were in full voice calling for the whistle throughout the three added minutes but the team held on and now face a trip to Wycombe for the third round match on Tuesday night although Ryan Green picked up a late second yellow for what seemed an unlucky handball as he stooped to chest the ball away.
FT Lincoln 3 Bulls 4
Lincoln: Anyon, Hughton, Green, Swaibu, Clapham, Carayol, Hoyte (Kerr 10), Howell, Jarrett, Facey, Grimes. Subs unused: Musselwhite, Anderson, McCallum, Broughton, Hutchinson.
Hereford: Bartlett, Kovacs, Rose, Townsend; Green, McQuilkin, Featherstone, Heath, Lunt, Fleetwood, Manset (Bauza 80). Subs unused: Weir, Gwynne, Evans, Stratford, Colbeck.
Attendance (strangely low) 1794.
There were times when this was far from intricate and both managers must have been despairing at some of the poor distribution but the game provided plenty of goals, £27,000 and a chance of a further £67,500.
See you all on Tuesday
