Sorry Bulls Go Down At Kiddy

It’s extremely tempting to ignore the game completely because the pre-match ale and food by far surpassed anything that took place during what was supposed to be ninety minutes of football

In footballing terms, the Bathams Bitter and the Hobsons Mild served at the King and Castle should both be immediately offered two-year contracts while the Kingstone Press duo of Dry and Medium are worthy of an extended trial. The loosening up was complimented by a delicious home made cottage pie and gravy that was "a la carte" compared to the junk food replicas offered by catering experts Lindley.

Following the excellent aperitif and starters, the main course fell well short of what was expected. Chef Trewick's kitchen staff who had performed promisingly at the Bristol City table appeared like strangers to each other and incapable of producing anything resembling the menu. In truth, you would have thought that they had all arrived in separate cars from different directions, not having ever met before and told to take a shirt and play.

A glimpse of what was to come showed very early when Ryan Green, one of the few exceptions to the general shoddiness, tried a simple wall pass with Manga only to receive a return that was at best described as "hospital". Marc Pugh did show a clean pair of heels to his marker early on without any major threat on the Harriers goal and it came as no real surprise when The Bulls went a goal down, Smikle's shot from just inside the box taking a deflection passed Bartlett. Kidderminster continued to boss the game with some good movement and crisp passing whereas Hereford lacked the basic ability to keep the ball for any length of time. Harriers doubled their lead before the interval when a ball was played square across the Bulls penalty area to former Kiddy defender Keith Lowe. A fellow player was heard to give him the call "time" but it was not good advice as he was instantly dispossessed by Farrell who fired home. HT KHFC 2 HUFC 0

The second period saw a change of centre backs with Jones and Rose replacing Dennehy and Lowe while Ameobi and Pandiani took over from Constantine and Wasiu up front. Unfortunately, the changes failed to spark much improvement as The Bulls continued to be outplayed by their Conference opponents with Harriers' Barnes-Homer rifling in a dipping, swerver from 20 yards to give the hosts a deserved three-goal advantage with twenty minutes remaining. The final quarter of an hour did offer several rays of hope for the Hereford faithful when Craig Jones released Pandiani who outpaced the defender before firing home with a cross shot into the far corner. The late introduction of Matty Done produced a pinpoint cross which Ameobi finished with a downward header to give the final score line a somewhat undeserved look of respectability. FT KHFC 3 HUFC 2.

For Hereford, there were few who came away with much credit although little fault could be laid at the feet of Ryan Green, Kenny Lunt and Marc Pugh who all looked decent amongst what was otherwise a thoroughly below par showing. Of the trialists, Ameobi again worked hard and took his goal well while Pandiani showed some pace and desire to earn a second look. Manga nor his replacement Dumbaya did little to cause any discomfort to the opposing fullback and up top, Wasiu also did himself few favours. All in all, it was a very poor performance, which must leave John Trewick both concerned and casting an eye towards GT's chequebook.

The attendance was 625 with 175 reportedly from The Shire although a few did leave well before the end. Not a good night. Can we please not go there next year?

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