We wuz robbed

The Bulls came away from Victoria Road empty handed after dominating proceedings in this afternoon’s penultimate League 2 match. Despite outplaying promotion candidates Dagenham and Redbridge, a late wonder strike from Graham Montomery in stoppage time along with an opener from Paul Benson eclipsed Marc Pugh’s reply.

Graham Turner named an unchanged side and The Daggers kicked off attacking the clock end but it was Hereford who started by far the brighter with some crisp passing and movement that contrasting with the hosts long ball game. Kenny Lunt was quickly into his stride releasing Pugh but veteran ‘keeper Tony Roberts was out to block. Craig King’s forward run was halted by a dubious offside flag before Lunt, in the thick of the action, worked some space on the right to allow Ryan Green to deliver a telling cross which Manset headed just over. The Beast was involved again shortly afterwards when he pulled to the left to receive a ball from Pugh but his dinked cross following some neat footwork failed to find a colleague.

Manset then forced a corner off a home defender and Pugh’s flag kick caused Roberts to launch his not inconsiderable torso into a desperate clearance as The Bulls kept up the pressure. Pugh’s effort from outside the box went wide while another Manset header again cleared the bar. With over twenty minutes gone, the only efforts from the hosts had been a Benson shot that sailed harmlessly over and a Nurse header that was comfortably wide.

Danny Green broke down the right for The Daggers but shot tamely into the arms of Bartlett before the home side took the lead against the run of play on 35 minutes. Benson got away into the box as the Bulls pushed out following a clearance and fired home passed Bartlett from 12 yards. While The Bulls continued to play neat constructive football, the home side contented themselves with balls hoofed down the line and into the box. Benson chased a long ball to the bye line but his squared cross was scuffed wide by Vindalot from 5 yards. King and Manset both suffered from a couple of hasty offside decisions before the erratic referee, Graham Horwood, brought the half to a close

HT Daggers 1 Bulls 0

As the second period got underway, Benson’s run from a clearly offside position was completely missed by the assistant but fortunately, the ball ran through to Adam Bartlett before Danny Green provided a chance for Scott who fired wide. McCallum fended off three defenders to release Manset but the Frenchman’s shot was deflected over. Then, just after the hour mark, The Bulls scored a well-made and deserved equaliser. Lunt and McCallum combined down the right before finding Ryan Green on a marauding run and his cross found Marc Pugh at the far post to stab over the line. The Daggers responded with predictable long balls, one of which required Bartlett to come five yards out of his area to clear as Bensons chased. McCallum provided a cross for King but the header was straight at Roberts. Constantine replaced King and soon drew a flapping save from Roberts while Bartlett produced the save of the match to deny Walsh’s header at the foot of the post with one Barnet based fan likening it to Gordon Banks' save from Pele.

Constantine was unceremoniously hacked down just outside the box but Lunt’s free kick was blocked before a couple of testing crosses from the busy Lunt were both cleared as the forth official indicated four minutes of added time. Substitute, Montgomery, over hit a cross that went for a goal kick but another cross found Bartlett stretching to reach for his clearance and failing to get sufficient distance on his punch. The ball fell kindly to Montgomery just outside the area and he volleyed in a fine goal before the defence had time to recover. The remaining couple of minutes saw a final push from The Bulls but time ran out before they were able to fashion a second equaliser.

FT Daggers 2 Bulls 1

There is no doubt that the comment heard near the exit was correct “we were mugged”. The Bulls had made their hosts look anything but a top League 2 side. All the “proper” football came from the men in white and even one local Policeman agreed the best team lost. However, there were few real grumbles from Bulls fans who numbered 239 amongst a gate of 2663 and most would probably be happy to see the starting eleven remain at The Street for another term.

Dagenham: Roberts, Ogogo, Doe, Arber, McCrory, Green (Uddin 90+3), Vincelot, Gain, Nurse (Walsh 78); Benson, Scott (Montgomery 65); Subs unused: Lewington, Uddin, Currie, Bingham, Tejan-Sie.

Hereford: Bartlett, Green, Rose, D Jones, Valentine, McCallum, Lunt, McQuilkin, Pugh, Manset, King (Constantine 79). Subs unused: Done, Gwynne, C Jones, Weir, Edwards, Lowe.

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