Bulls stop the rot at The Shay

Luke Graham Leading The Bulls

Hereford United came away from Halifax with their first point from four games when Sam Smith had headed through his own goal after Richard Brodie had opened his Bulls account with an early strike.

Martin Foyle tinkered with both the matchday squad and the formation to give a start to Jon Brown in place of Dan Walker with Kingsley James taking the place of Rob Purdie who failed to make the bench.

Danny Leadbitter was on the overlap straight from the off but his low cross was hooked away for a corner that was cleared upfield.  Paul Green took a nasty bang from a late challenge but Bushy’s free kick was too long and drifted out for a goal kick.  Then on 8 minutes, The Bulls took the lead. 

Leadbitter was again involved in the build up down the right and when Michael West’s accurate cross came in Richard Brodie was perfectly placed to volley home.

Celebration Time

A Matty Pearson header for the hosts sailed harmlessly over the bar and when Jon Brown whipped in a cross from the bye-line, Halifax keeper Matt Glennon was quickly down to smother.  At the other end, Rhys Evans came to claim a corner from Gardiner and Luke Graham was alert to cut out another dangerous cross from Gregory.

Bush and Brodie combined well on the left and Bush’s cross was glanced well wide of the target by West.  Gregory tried the old backing in and falling down routine but referee Wigglesworth was wise to his simulation.  However, when Scott McManus pulled a similar stunt the ref fell for it and awarded a free kick against Leadbitter when he was actually the one being fouled.  The referee’s error proved costly to The Bulls as when Gardner’s cross came in, Sam Smith won a rare headed challenge and deflected the ball into his own net to level the scores on 30 minutes.

The Wall For The Halifax Free Kick

Shortly after, McManus was up for a corner and wrestled Leadbitter to the ground and held him to prevent him getting up yet the referee ignored the incident completely.  Brodie shaped to break away and was hauled back by his shirt and when Bushy cut out a ball a yard in front of Gardner the shayman decided to roll about in apparent agony despite not having been touched.  He duly received some brief advice from Andy Porter, presumably, about the blade of grass that had tripped him.  The half ended with Kingsley James volleying over from the edge of the box following a bout of ping-pong in the home box.

HT Halifax 1 Bulls 1

James sent Brodie away down the right and he cut in to send a rising left footed shot over the bar.  Michael West made a darting run to the bye-lie before cutting back to Brodie who fired just wide from 12 yards.  Rhys Evans was forced into a fingertip save after The Bulls failed to clear their lines from a corner in a period when United gave the ball away cheaply in some poor areas.

Rod McDonald was lucky to see his sliced clearance whistle over the bar before, on the break, Jon Brown saw his rasping effort tipped over by Glennon and a Leadbitter cross was head back across goal by McDonald but no Bulls player was on hand to convert. 

Michael Rankine joined the action with a little over twenty minutes remaining to replace the tiring Brodie.  We’ll have to wait a bit longer to see the mighty combo on the field together.

Eric Odhiambo On as A Sub

The referee finally produced a yellow card for Halifax when late in the game Marshall was very late on Leadbitter as the fullback launched into another charge down the flank.  Paul Green slotted a delightful ball through to Smith but his shot from inside the box was pushed away by Glennon.

Walker replaced Smith late on and put presented with a weighted pass by Rankine that would have put him through on goal had he been looking in the right direction.

Four minutes of added time failed to provide any further delight for the 1362 in attendance of which some 90-odd were probably relieved to see the run of defeats ended.

FT Halifax 1 Bulls 1

Hereford: Evans, Leadbitter, Graham, McDonald, Bush, Brown, James, Green, West (Odhiambo 77), Brodie (Rankine 69), Smith (Walker 89). Subs not used: Gwynne, Collins.

Halifax: Glennon, Toulson, Roberts, Ainge, Lowe (McReady 46), Pearson, Maynard, Gardner (Holsgrove 64), Marshall, McManus, Gregory (Carver 73). Subs not used: Senior, Williams.

The return to 4-4-2 gave a bit more stability in the centre particularly as the wide players showed an improved appetite for their defensive duties.  Richard Brodie took his goal well and should/could have had at least one more.  Kingsley James’ industry in the centre was a fine example for other to follow and while the back division all performed well it was Leadbitter’s forward runs that caught the eye.

Better.  Now let’s build on it on Tuesday night.

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