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Hereford United lost the first leg of the A49 derby as The Slops ran out 3-1 winners. Two goals from striker Morgan and another from Wright proved too much for the visitors despite a well-taken consolation goal from substitute Barkhuizen.
Jamie Pitman gave starts to Will Evans and Sam Winnall in place of Danny Williams and Arquin in a match that was made difficult by a swirling wind that whistled into the ground through the huge gaps between the stands. The game started scrappily with neither side showing any great ability but the hosts took the lead in the seventh minute following a defensive lapse. Heath, firstly, then Townsend combined to gift a tap-in goal for former Aldershot striker Marvin Morgan.
Facey’s flick-on almost found Winnell but he was eased clear of the ball by Sharps and Facey was narrowly offside as he ran on to a Lunt pass. Ryan Green produced a timely tackle to dispossess Gornal but the Bulls were guilty of some poor clearances which gave possession unnecessarily back to The Shrews in a match that was, frankly, hard to watch. A Clist cross was easily collected by Ben Smith before a dipping Lunt cross was cleared for an uneventful corner as the game dragged unspectacularly to the interval.
HT Shrews 1 Bulls 0
Pitman introduced Colbeck and Barkhuizen after the oranges at the expense of Lunt and Clist in an attempt to add the width that had been sadly lacking in the first half. Colbeck fired a low cross into the danger area, which came to nothing, and on the breakaway the hosts, somewhat fortunately, doubled their lead. McAllister’s wayward effort from the edge of the box was destined to go ten yards wide when Wright stuck out a leg and deflected the ball past the stranded Cornell. A Morgan header found its way into the net but the goal was correctly ruled out as Gornell had impeded Cornell preventing him making a regulation save.
Delroy Facey had a shot blocked on the line and Featherstone sent a 30-yarder on the bar before Gornell collected a straight red for a disgraceful, studs-up, two-footed challenge on Cornell. There really is no place in football for that sort of assault on a fellow professional.
Pitman took the opportunity to replace Evans with an extra striker in the shape of Yoann Arquin as The Bulls changed to three at the back. Green, on a surging run, fed Colbeck but the wideman shot well wide of the target then Barkhuizen’s cross to the far post was headed into the side netting by Facey. The increasingly adventurous Green then crossed a ball into the box, Facey challenged and the ball fell to Barkhuizen who swept home from six yards.
Buoyed by the goal, The Bulls set about The Shrews and Facey fed Arquin who should have done better than shoot straight at the keeper. Then, with Smith well out of his ground having miss-hit a clearance, Facey had the travelling Herefordians on their feet as he shot at the empty goal from over forty yards. With many fans, including this one, already celebrating a goal, the ball reared up and rebounded off the crossbar. Shrewsbury immediately broke away and Morgan slipped past Heath to drive low into the net from 10 yards to complete the scoring.
Facey, Pell and Arquin both had chances to reduce the arrears late on but the game finished with a 3-1 win for the home team in front of a disappointing 5684 that included 537 from The Shire.
FT Shrews 3 Bulls 1
Hereford: Cornell. Evans (Arquin 66), Green, Townsend, Heath, Lunt (Barkhuizen 46), Pell, Featherstone, Clist (Colbeck 46), Facey, Winnall. Subs unused: Hoult, McQuilkin.
Shrewsbury: Smith, Grandison, Sharps, Cansdell-Sherriff, Jacobson, Ainsworth (Hazell 80), McAllister, Wroe, Wright (Richards 84), Morgan (Collins 89), Gornell. Subs unused: Neal, Bradshaw.
Whilst the narrow midfield seemed to, in the main, contain the home creativity it did little to produce much by way of counter-attacking threat in the first half. The width in the second period, particularly from the left, gave hope to the faithful but controlled football was at a premium because of the howling wind that always seems to be present at the out of town wasteland that is The Greenhous Stadium. 
Why can’t they just put some windshields in the corners?
Why can’t they just put some windshields in the corners?
