Below is part of a preview of tonights game from onevalefan.co.uk
Hereford United in Numbers:
1. The number of games Hereford have lost at home this season. That was all the way back in August when they lost 2-0 at home to Grays Athletic, the runaway conference leaders.
5. The number of goals their top scorer, Daniel Carey-Bertram, has this season.
7. The number of games since Hereford last lost at home.
11. The number of minutes when Ryan Day scored an own goal for Hereford in their 1-0 win over Mansfield in the first round of this years LDV Vans Trophy.
2,498. The attendance at their last home match, a 4-0 win against Woking.
Vale Connections:
Former Vale striker Lee Mills will be known to most Vale fans, having spent three years at Vale Park before finishing his career in professional football at Edgar Street. Saturday's goal scoring hero Michael Husbands, spent a short period in 2003 on loan to the Bulls from Aston Villa. During that time he made five substitute appearances and scored no goals. In fact, his goal on Saturday was his first ever league goal and he has only ever scored in a Port Vale shirt.
Form Guide
Last Results:
Port Vale 1-1 Swindon
Dag and Red 0-1 Hereford
Head-to-Head:
8 wins for Vale, 7 wins for Hereford and 7 draws. The last game ended in a 1-0 win for the Valiants at Vale Park way back in 1986.
Top Scorers:
Lowndes 5
Carey-Bertram 5
League Positions:
Port Vale 11th
Hereford 8th
Team News:
Hereford will still be without star keeper Wayne Brown, who suffered a hairline fracture of his wrist after the Woking game. It's believed that Graham Turner will be making a few changes to his team tonight as they look to rest a few players.
Simon Travis and Adam Stansfield are both pressing for their first starts since the start of September having just both recovered from injury. The central defensive partnership of Tamika Mkandawire and skipper Tony James has been improving a lot recently and they may carry on or Turner could choose to try out youngsters Blewett and Beckwith in their place. Daniel Carey-Bartram should return to the squad, but could start on the bench with Turner choosing to go with Andy Williams (Two goals in his last two games) and Guy Ipoua up front, a good combination of youth and experience.
For Port Vale, both Clayton Fortune and Leon Constantine are cup tied as they played in the previous round for their former clubs. Fortune played the first 75 minutes and Constantine came on as a sub. Vale will be hoping that Togwell, Mulligan and Cornes are all cleared to play by their respective clubs. Michael Husbands should start in place of Constantine but the back four could prove a problem with Steve Rowland the only fit replacement for Fortune.
He could however choose to bring in youth teamer Luke Prosser for his first start of the season, or move Tony Dinning to centre-back and bring in Joe Cardle on the left wing. However, if Mickey Bell fails to recover from injury then James may have to move to left back, leaving Foyle with yet another selection dilemma. Who says he has an easy job? Hopefully Chris Birchall may declare himself fit for the game and give Foyle extra midfield options.
A quartet of officials from the West Midlands will be in charge of todays encounter with Andy Penn being the target for abuse from both sets of fans and players no doubt. Neil Hancox and Patrick Keane will be running the lines while today's 4th official is Ian Evans.
Danger Man:
The one to watch out for will be Danny Carey-Bertram, who is the clubs top scorer and also an England National Game XI regular. He played and scored in their last game which was a 2-0 win against Belgium in the European Challenge Trophy. The 21 year old is described as having electrifying pace and will undoubtedly give Vale's back line plenty of problems.
Boo Boys:
There is no-one in the Hereford team that stands out so it's possible Vale fans could shamelessly boo their own players as some have been doing at recent matches. However, hopefully those fans will be tucked up in bed and the fans that do go can bring the rafters down as they cheer the team on!
And Finally:
It's legal to kill a Welshman within the city walls at night with a crossbow. We're not sure this ages old law has probably been repelled by now but we do believe OVF's favourite Welsh-born mutt One_Eyed_Dog will be in attendance at Edgar Street tonight!
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Tuesday, November 22, 2005
A Vale View
Pitch is okay for this evening
Hereford United have confirmed to Bulls News that the game with Port Vale this evening is on.
Currently there is no frost on the pitch and no fog in Hereford and unless the fog rolls back in, as it did in Birmingham last night, the game should take place.
The Offical Port Vale Website has also reported the news:
Although there were doubts yesterday about whether or not our LDV Vans Trophy tie at Hereford would go ahead, we have been informed this morning the game is definitely on.
On Monday (yesterday) morning, the pitch at Edgar Street was reported to have been frozen solid and with more frost forecast overnight, things were not looking too good.
A pitch inspection planned for this morning has now taken place and it seems the pitch is now perfectly playable.The game kicks off at 7.45pm.
For those unable to get to Edgar Street this evening there will be updates but, as far as we are aware at present, no commentary on BBC Hereford and Worcester.
Monday, November 21, 2005
EU TV Rules To Prove Beneficial To Lower Leagues
The European Union's decision to force the split of TV rights of the Premiership matches will ultimately prove beneficial to the lower echelons of English football.
The EU decided that the Premiership had to split the rights, with no one broadcaster carrying more than four of the six packages available for auction from the deal struck between the Premiership and the EU.
While the deal will ultimately mean the loss of revenue from the top flight, and a likely reduction of revenue from the FA Cup in the earlier rounds, eventually the spread of televised football will lead to the expansion of television exposure for the lower leagues.
BSkyB, holding the current monopoly, have already indicated that they will bid less - per game - for their allowed number of packages than their last £1.024bn all encompassing deal that runs til 2007.
For other TV channels it provides the opportunity to take games that were otherwise beyond their budget. For BSkyB, with several channels to fill, it will leave a void of football coverage that their entire business has been based on for many years.
BSkyB became the be-all and end-all of football coverage in pubs and clubs thanks to their universal coverage, and were able to charge several hundreds of pounds per month for blanket coverage of the Premiership to every Pub and Club in the UK and Ireland. The loss of the ultimate carrot to the average landlord will mean that other providers, likely to include the recently formed NTL/Telewest Cable giant and ITV - utilising the Pay-Per-View option on the Freeview service, will be able to gain a foothold on the most valuable of subscribers - the Public Houses.
BSkyB are likely to retain some form of financial interest in the PPV operations of the other major bidders since they retain the only blanket Pay-TV broadcast coverage of the country, meaning that other providers may have to pay BSkyB to carry the matches they couldn't buy outright. NTL/Telewest carry their services to less than 5m homes, and Freeview's PPV capability is carried to half that thanks to nearly half the current Freeview compatible boxes installed in homes not having the requisite card slot to take the PPV option.
However the bigger picture, for the lower leagues, is what will BSkyB do with the empty airtime it has left after the loss of at least 40 matches per season? It has extended it's sports coverage over the last decade on the basis of it's Premiership dominance, extending one channel to four dedicated channels plus a rolling sports news channel - plus a six-figure investment into a Racing-dedicated channel after the initial backers went bust. BSkyB have made a point to cover any sport that was worthy of coverage, and the loss of football coverage can only be replaced by coverage of more football with every other marketable sport facing saturation coverage.
The token deal to cover Conference games, paying the two Clubs less than the cost of the Satellite airtime used to broadcast the tie live, filled a gap on International weekends. It may now be used to fill more blank Mondays and Sunday lunchtimes and, with sides like Accrington, Gravesend, and Forest Green experimenting with Friday nights, BSkyB may find a division of clubs happy to switch games for easy revenue. Leagues One and Two will also find themselves being sought for coverage as BSkyB looks to fill gaps rather than close channels and make their product look less competitive.
Of course, BSkyB's monopoly does not end until the Summer of 2007. After that, it will be an interesting time in English football.
Foyle still has injury crisis
The Port Vale manager, Martin Foyle, has an injury crisis which will mean he has to put out an unfamiliar side tomorrow evening at Edgar Street for the LDV game against Hereford United.
With the fans on his back after Saturday, Foyle will choose from a squad mainly containing loan players and youngsters.
The Port Vale board have allowed Foyle to bring in seven loan players since August, five of whom played last Saturday.
"At the moment we are not building good foundations, we are filling holes with players coming in from other clubs. I don't know a lot about them - but you can't get loan players and we have sold Sam Collins and Billy Paynter," Folye told the Sentinel.
"It is hard because you have your hardcore of players who are the ones signed on, but people don't realise you get a different attachment with loan players.
"They know they are going back in a month or whenever and it doesn't hurt them because they are not Port Vale players. It is something we have to have a big look at and get sorted out very quickly."
One loan player is Chris Cornes. It appears he and Foyle have not seen eye to eye since he came on loan from Wolves.
The 18-year-old Wolves player is still eligible to appear in tomorrow night's game at Hereford though the paper says it would surprise no one if his departure to a standing ovation after 70 minutes of Saturday's dreadful game was the last fans will see of him in a Vale shirt.
Cornes's 10 appearances and three goals have given a tantalising glimpse of dazzling potential - and plenty of supporters left Foyle in no doubt of their feelings with chants of 'You don't know what you're doing' when the youngster was hauled off on Saturday.
The manager was the one feeling the heat from the stands as he suffered the most severe criticism he has endured in his two-and-a-half years in charge.
This was probably the worst home performance in that time, although Foyle has faced an unenviable task in recent weeks as he has attempted to piece together a team from a squad ravaged by injury and the departures of Billy Paynter and Sam Collins.
Vale certainly looked like a team of strangers as they were outplayed by a Swindon side still bottom of the table, but who look capable of climbing out of the drop zone.
All the above suggests that Hereford United have a good chance of overcomimg the Valients tomorrow evening, assuming the Bulls put out a reasonably strong side and the weather allows the game to go ahead.
Finally one aspect of the LDV which hasn't attracted much attention is the difference in prize money between Conference and League clubs.
For example if Port Vale lose the game they will receive £4,000, but if Hereford United lose they will only receive £3,000.
Cambridge Scrap Centre Of Excellence
With Football League funding of £70,000 ending at the end of the season, Cambridge United have decided to scrap their Centre of Excellence and move over to the college-based PASE scheme as used by Hereford United.
Vice Chairman John Howard told a Thursday night meeting: "It is obviously very sad, given the stream of talent that the centre of excellence has produced over the years, that it cannot be preserved. However, since circumstances dictate that we cannot keep the centre of excellence in operation, we are convinced that the club should continue to offer the chance of professional football training to local youngsters through a high-quality community and college-based scheme developed in conjunction with the club."
Hereford United began operating the PASE scheme with u-17 and u-19 sides in association with Pershore college in 2002, and have already seen benefits with both Andy Williams and Sam Gwynne progressing into the professional ranks.
Husbands Wary Of Turner
Port Vale midfielder Michael Husbands has spoken about his time at Edgar Street ahead of Tuesday's LDV Trophy game.
Husbands has scored twice in five appearances and hopes to force his way into the starting line up on Tuesday, but he remembers his short stay at Edgar Street fondly: "I don't know the current players, but I know what Graham Turner will want from them and that they will try to play football. It was a good experience there and showed me just how hard it is to play in non-league."
Husbands, who made five substitute appearance at Edgar Street in early 2003, has spent nearly two years on the sidelines through injuries after signing for Southend in the summer of 2003. An unsuccessful trial at Bristol Rovers led to a move to Walsall where he signed a short term deal - meaning he is technically a loan player at Port Vale until January even though his Walsall contract ran out. Husbands hopes for a longer term deal at Port Vale, but is unable to sign a contract until January thanks to the transfer window.
Meanwhile, Vale boss Martin Foyle was furious at his side after their 1-1 draw with bottom club Swindon: "That was a very bad performance and the criticism from the fans was more than justified. I apologise to them and will take the flak but I wonder how many of the players will hold their hands up". Foyle is likely to make changes for tomorrow's game, and hopes to have Chris Birchall, Danny Sonner, and Gary Mulligan fit again after missing the weekend match.
Wormull Bids For Crawley Manager Post
Crawley caretaker boss Simon Wormull has thrown his hat into the ring after three weeks in temporary charge.
Wormull, 28, was a surprise choice as caretaker after former manager Francis Vines and two assistants left the club in a matter of weeks, and initially denied that he had any long term aspirations on the full time position.
Wormull now says he has an experienced coach lined up to assist him should the Board agree to give him a longer run in charge, but his record so far of one win in three games is not impressive and the Crawley board have indicated that an experienced manager is their target. Jimmy Quinn has openly declared his interest in the job, but the club appear no closer to an appointment.
Wormull could, however, be the key in Crawley's attempts to lure Antony Elding from Stevenage. Wormull spent three years at the Herts club, and spent 18 months in the side with Elding.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Conference News Round-Up
Southport have parted company with assistant boss Neil Whalley, who could no longer commit fully to the part-time post. Defender Farrell Kilbane is also likely to leave the club soon after being given permission to speak to Stalybridge. Cambridge are to look for a new striker before Thursday's Loan transfer deadline after they drew a blank losing 2-0 to Aldershot. Gravesend are the latest club to experiment with Friday night football, moving the clash with Canvey forward a day to 20th January. The club have also loaned midfielder Ben Surrey to Basingstoke for a month.
Exeter Fans To Be Situated In Len Weston Stand
In a piece missed out from our Liaison meeting round-up last week, Graham Turner told the liaison meeting that there were no plans to open the Blackfriars terrace for Exeter fans this Saturday.
With the Len Weston terracing and seating above meaning 1200 could be comfortably accomodated, the crumbling Blackfriars End would only be used as an overflow.
In other news, former Bulls striker Danny Davidson has been released from Nuneaton after one game. The full time accountant could not commit sufficient time to his new club after being asked to play a midweek reserve game, a match that fellow ex-Bull Ian Foster scored twice in.
What's happened to Bulls Call?
Bulls Call seems to have gone into permanent hiberation. The telephone information service is still advertised on the Hereford United Official Site and in the match day programmes but hasn't been updated since August.
Bulls Call was launched to take the place of Club Call. It promised Breaking News, Exclusive Interviews, and Match Coverage at a cost of 60p per minute.
The calls tended to last from four to six minutes so would cost anyone listening around £3 each time.
The club was beleived to receive somewhere betweeen 17p and 25p per minute or around £1 per full length call.
Why the service has been dropped hasn't been publically revealed by the club.
Sometime ago Bulls News suggested that a text service for breaking news might be a money spinner. However as yet the club have not introduced such a service.
Grecians defeat young Bulls.
Hereford United's under 18's were defeated 4-1 by Exeter yesterday.
The away game was a Football League Alliance Conference U18 South West fixture.
Forest Green Unlikely To Be All Ticket
Despite rumours to the contrary, the Boxing Day away match at Forest Green is unlikely to be all-ticket, subject to Police confirmation.
The Gloucestershire club are likely to make seating all ticket due to limited numbers, but the terrace will remain pay on the day with around 4,500 terrace spaces available in total.
Forest Green have also moved their home match with Burton to Tuesday December 6th, with the original date clashing with Burton's FA Cup tie.
NLP Reports Crawley's Bids For Elding
Today's Non-League Paper reports that managerless Crawley have made two bids for Stevenage forward Anthony Elding.
Having had a £50,000 bid rejected by the Herts club, Crawley are reported to have upped the offer to £75,000. Stevenage chairman Phil Wallace recently hit out at an un-named Conference club for illegally approaching Elding after the player fell out yet again with manager Graham Westley.
The paper also reports that Leeds United are the latest side to show an interest in George Boyd, quoting Elland Road chief scout Ian McNeill as having provided a glowing reference to manager Kevin Blackwell on the 20 year old winger.
In other NLP news, Tamika Mkandawire was named in the Team Of The Week for the second successive week.
Newly appointed England Assistant Manager Steve Burr has described critics of manager Paul Fairclough as "bitter": "The top and bottom of it is that Paul Fairclough as an England manager at this level is as good as anyone. When you've got somebody who's that good at their job, I can't see how they can be criticised. On Tuesday there were signs that this team can really do something. I feel they have a great chance of winning the competition."
From Edgar Street to Salthill
Hereford United is seldom out of the news. Yesterday Five Live mentioned the club when covering the rise of Wigan and today the Sunday Times has a feature on a former loan player at Edgar Street who is playing in the final of the Gaelic Games this afternoon.
Growing up in Galway city, Seamus Crowe never dreamed of playing soccer in England or football in Galway. Hurling was his game. He won a Tony Forrestal (All-Ireland U-14) medal with Galway in 1994 and ended the competition as top scorer.
But he moved to England after being watched at a Kennedy Cup soccer game and joined Wolves.
Crowe came to Edgar Street in February 2001.
According to HU-FC.co.uk he joined Hereford on loan from Wolves for the last couple of months of the 2000-01 season. A young Irishman, he made little impact on the side but gained vital experience in the four matches he started. He was released by Wolves at the end of the season, and played one match for Telford United in 2001/02.
Steve Bull was instrumental in bringing Crowe to Hereford.
The article in todays Sunday Times says that Crowe spent some time at Sheffield United before Wolves legend Steve Bull brought him to Hereford United. He had become close to Bull and he could have tried to build a career there, but Crowe felt in his heart that his time was up.
At the end of 2000 (season), he arrived home to reality.
"It was scary," says Crowe. "I didn't have my Leaving Cert and all my friends were either in college or apprenticeships. I was thinking, 'Jesus, what do I do now?'
"I did nothing for a few months and then I started working in a factory. Nothing against that type of work but I didn't want to end up there at 21."
Crowe then spent a year with Longford Town in the Eircom League but he wanted to try something different. He immersed himself in fitness and conditioning courses and went back playing Junior C hurling with Menlo Emmetts.
A friend asked him to go training with Salthill and he joined the club in 2002. Injury and suspension meant he did not make his championship debut until last season.
Last Friday, on his 25th birthday, he was voted Galway Club Footballer of the Year.
And this afternoon his side meets St Bridgets in the Connacht club SFC final.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
United finally string two together
Hereford United followed up last weeks impresive victory against Woking with a solid away victory at the Glynn Hopkin Stadium, as Dagenham & Redbridge hosted The Bulls. Graham Turner was able to name an unchanged starting eleven, but Karl Lewis was promoted to the subs bench to cover for the injured Wayne Brown.
Hereford, who had previously beaten The Daggers just once in the Conference, started the game in brilliant fashion, carrying on from where they left off against Woking. Guy Ipoua had headed wide at the far post when play had been well switched to the right and Andy Williams had fired wide before United took a twelth minute lead.
Ryan Green again linked up well with Jon Brady on the right to deliver a cross for Ipoua, whose header was palmed into the path of Williams by Tony Roberts in the home goal. Williams somehow planted the ball against the post, from a yard out with the goal gaping, before he was able to tap the ball in from the rebound; a huge relief to the youngster as he saved himself the embarrassment of an awful miss.
Four minutes later the young attacker headed on target again, from a Brady cross, but Roberts claimed the ball this time and with twenty five minutes gone Rob Purdie should have doubled the advantage. He played a neat one-two with Williams, but when he had a god sight on goal he tamely shot straight down the throat of the 'keeper.
United continued their attractive attacking football throughout the half and Brady should have done better at the far post, but sliced over, and should have had the game wrapped up by half time but it was the home side who almost pulled level, in injury time. Luckily a Paul Benson free header at the far post was blocked by Craig Mawson.
The second half was basically dominated by Dagenham, in terms of possession at least, and United seemed to have lost that spark that they showed all the way through the opening half. However, a counter attack led by Purdie on the left should have resulted in Hereford's second, but Jamie Pitman, a contender for man of the match with Tamika Mkandawire, was denied by the inside of the post having seen his shot beat the on rushing Roberts. The Daggers still failed to convert their possession into chances and it was United, again on the break, who threatened next via Craig Stanleys' header but it was easy for Roberts.
With fifteen minutes remaining The Bulls replaced Williams with Danny Carey-Bertram, but he had little affect on the game as service was limited from the midfield. Purdie hit a low snap shot forcing Roberts into another save and with six minutes left on the clock Turner took the decision to replace Brady with another defender, Dean Beckwith. The decision paid off as Beckwiths' height was helpful in the closing stages that saw a fair few crosses whipped into Uniteds' box, but again there was nothing to trouble Mawson, who made a rare save in the final moments, pushing Mackail-Smiths' shot around the post.
The result is just what United needed following their victory against Woking, and it is the first time this campaign that they have managed to string two league victories together. The two hundred or so away supporters in a crowd of 1,294 were entertained and would have been delighted with the first half of football produced by their side, but the second half was no where near the standard shown in the previous 135 minutes of football played by United.
HUFC: Mawson, Green, James, Mkandawire, Jeannin, Purdie, Pitman, Stanley, Brady, Williams, Ipoua. Subs: Beckwith, Ferrell, Lewis, Evans, Carey-Bertram.
D&RFC: Roberts, Foster , Blackett, Uddin, Griffiths, Goodwin, Southam, Bruce, Moore, Mackail-Smith, Benson. Subs: Cole Overland, Frota, Ward, Kenny Clark.
Watkiss Blames The Ref Again
Kidderminster manager Stuart Watkiss had harsh words for the referee for the second week running after apparently being denied a penalty in the 0-0 draw with York.
Referee Amy Raynor, who had received some stiff criticism from Gravesend manager Liam Daish earlier in the season, decided striker Iyseden Christie had dived when it seemed clear to most in the ground that the goalkeeper had brought him down.
Watkiss told the official Kidderminster website "For two weeks on the bounce, I'll be leaving the game tonight still puzzled by what I see as a poor refereeing decision that has ultimately decided the game. Obviously you can never say whether we would have scored the penalty or not, but we should certainly have had the chance to find out and we're disappointed to again be on the wrong end of poor officiating.
"I have to say I think the officials were poor from start to finish today. The linesman didn't help with the penalty decision so you have to wonder why he's there. I went over to her and shook her hand and just let her know what I thought of that decision and her performance, but there was no bad language, I just thought it was unacceptable and I gave her my views."
Watkiss also spoke confirming rumours of the impending sales of some of the higher paid players:
"It's no secret that we may have to lose some of our top earners, but as much as we may have to lose them, I obviously want to keep them. There are no offers on the table yet and no deal is imminent for any of our players but there has obviously been interest, but that's all it is at the moment. There is the money available to bring in one more loan signing [before Thursday] so we'll sit down on Monday morning and see where we are with injuries before making a decision on what to do."
Thursday Deadline For Loan Signings
The window for loan transfers closes this coming Thursday, November 24th.
Loan transfers will be possible after this date until January 1st only in an extreme emergency, and Graham Turner has already made it clear that a goalkeeper will be sought to replace the injured Wayne Brown.
It is unlikely that Matt Bailey's loan will be extended with Adam Stansfield's return to fitness likely to be tested in the LDV Trophy match on Tuesday. The lanky striker has failed to appear in any of the last three games despite his loan spell not ending until after Saturday's match against Exeter. Initial reports suggested Bailey had returned to Crewe, but Turner insisted that the player remained registered to Hereford but refused to be drawn further on the matter.
Turner has confirmed in the past week that funding is available to sign "the right player" but with the squad returning to form, and with Stansfield and Simon Travis proving their fitness, it is unlikely that anyone other than a goalkeeper will join the squad before Thursday.
Preview: Bulls vs Port Vale
It's been nearly 20 years since the Bulls and Port Vale were combatants in the same league, and only slightly less since the two sides last met in the LDV Trophy - being paired up three times in the 1980's with Port Vale gaining narrow 1-0 wins on two occasions, with the third being a 1-1 draw in the old format group stage.
Overall Port Vale shade the historical meetings 14 wins to 11, with 10 draws. The last meeting in all competitions was 17 years ago almost to the day, on 21st November 1988, in the then Sherpa Van Trophy Preliminary Round Group 6 (South) tie. While that game was 1-1 thanks to a Gary Stevens goal, the Bulls had the last laugh - qualifying from the group after Port Vale were demolished 5-1 by Graham Turner's Wolves.
Port Vale have been in League One since being relegated from the Championship in 2000, and currently lie 11th in the table, two points from a play-off place. However the club is still in tough financial times after emerging from Administration in 2002 and have recently allowed captain Sam Collins and striker Billy Paynter to join Hull on loan ahead of permanent moves in January, and have five players in on loan to shore up an injury hit squad.
Hereford United vs Port Vale, LDV Trophy Round Two, Edgar Street, Tuesday 22nd Nov, 7.45pm.
Conference Results Round Up
Grays Athletic return to the top of the league after beating previous leaders Exeter 2-1 as both sides ended with 10 men after a half time tunnel fight. The attendance of 6,682 is Exeter's highest in the Conference, and one of the top 20 all time attendance figures. Accrington sandwich the pair, after winning 2-0 at home to bottom club Forest Green on Friday night. Stevenage lost ground on the leaders with a 1-1 home draw with Scarboro, who are unbeaten in the league since Neil Redfearn took charge. Halifax beat second bottom Southport 2-0 thanks to two goals in two minutes. York scored their first point in three games by drawing 0-0 at Kidderminster, who slip down to sixteenth. Morecambe won by a single goal at Woking, opening up a six point gap between the top 8 and the rest of the league. Gravesend beat Altrincham 2-0, and Aldershot beat Cambridge by the same score to record 10 points out of 12. Tamworth fought their way to a 2-1 win over Canvey, and had seven booked and one sent off in the process. Burton are also climbing up the table, recording their third straight league win after losing at Edgar Street by beating Crawley 3-1.
The Bulls remain eighth in the table, seven points off the top.
Our LDV Trophy opponents Port Vale drew 1-1 at home to bottom club Swindon, with ex-Bull Michael Husbands scoring a late equaliser. Our FA Cup opponents Stockport came from behind twice to get a 2-2 draw which cost Leyton Orient top spot.
Two good partnerships says Trewick
A delighted sounding John Trewick, the Hereford United coach, told Keith Hall for BBC Hereford and Worcester that the Bulls were worthy winners this afternoon.
He was very pleased that Andy Williams had scored his second Conference goal in two games and also commented about two good partnerships being forged in the side.
"It's fanastic for him. He took a couple of goes at it of course, kept everybody on their toes, but it went in the net. That's the important thing.
"He's confidence must be sky-high. What he has to do now is keep his feet on the ground, keep working, keep doing what he is doing, because he is doing ever so well for himself and the team.
"The fans have taken to him. They want to see a young local lad coming through which is great. So I'm delighted for him because he's a great lad.
"He's making it difficult for the other strikers because he is warranting his place at the moment.
Taking of the partnership between Williams and Guy Ipoua, Trewick thought they were working well with each other.
"It's been a difficult season for us up front to find the right pairing. They're all good players but strikers hunt in pairs.
"These two guys have shown as good a partnership as anyone certainly since I've been at the football club.
Trewick also mentioned the pairing of Tony James And Tamika Mkandawire.
"When we came under pressure in the second half, they stood firm. Both players can go away from this game thinking yep I've done my job."
The coach also related some more details about Wayne Brown's injury.
"He's got a hairline fracture of the wrist. He did it in training on Thursday.
"He didn't really feel it was injured that seriously on Thursday although he did have to stop training. Then when he came in on Friday morning, his wrist was swollen.
"Sent him straight to the doctors, straight for an X-ray, and that confirmed the hairline fracture."
Three points for the Bulls
Hereford United are unchanged for this afternoon's game with Dagenham other than Carl Lewis who comes in for the injured Wayne Brown.
Starting XI: Mawson, Green, James, Mkandawire, Jeannin, Purdie, Pitman, Stanley, Brady, Williams, Ipoua.
Subs: Beckwith, Lewis, Ferrell, Evans, Carey-Bertram.
Wayne Brown is reported to have broken his wrist in training. It is beleived he will be out for around six weeks.
Conditions at Dagenham are dry and sunny although the pitch is sticky in places.
Hereford lead 1-0 thanks to an early Andy Williams goal from close range.
The goal came after a cross from Ryan Green was met by Guy Ipoua. He headed down to Andy Williams who hit the post and scored from the rebound.
Williams looked very relieved to see the ball go in the net.
Hereford had several other chances and Green and Brady have combined together well.
However, against the run of play, Dagenham had a good chance blocked after a corner right at the end of the first half.
Just over 200 Hereford supporters are at the game in a poor attendance of 1294.
Second Half: Danny Carey-Bertram replaces Andy Williams after 30 minutes. Dean Beckwith replaces Jon Brady on 84 minutes. Ipoua getting penalised for offside too often. Dagenham had the better of the later exchanges.
Final Score: Hereford United 1 Dagenham and Redbridge 0
Full report from Brian later this evening.
Wigan used to play Hereford United
Wigan Athletic take on Arsenal this lunchtime at the JJB Stadium. But 27 years ago they were in the same league as Hereford United.
The first game for the two clubs of the 1978/79 season in what was then League Division Four was a match at Edgar Street. The result was 0-0 and over 1,000 Wigan fans made the trip to see their club's first game in the League. The return game later that season was also drawn 0-0. However Wigan finished the season in sixth position whereas the Bulls were in 14th place.
However it took Wigan until the end of the 81/82 season to gain promotion to League Division Three. Now they are in second place in the Premiership. Quite an achievement for what is a relatively small club.
This morning Five Live has been at Wigan's JJB Stadium and inevitably their first match in the league against Hereford United was mentioned.
"Wigan were abysmal," said the former manager Ian McNeil at the time.
There are other connections between the two clubs. Frank Lord was manager at Hereford from November 1979 to the end of September 1982 when he was either resigned or was sacked.
However in early 1996 Lord was appointed care-taker manager at Wigan and won his first game 4-0. He had three Spanish players in his side brought to the club by the former manager Graham Barrow. Wigan were one of the first clubs to bring Spanish players to the UK. They were known as the 'Three Amigos'. One of the players was nicknamed Jesus.
"We had the Lord and Jesus on our side!" said Barrow to Five Live.
There is one other Hereford connection of note.
One day the Wigan highest attendance record may be beaten but this morning it stands at 27,529 against Hereford United on December 12th 1953. They played at Springfield Park in those days. It was on the occasion of a second round FA cup game which Wigan won. The record attendance is also the highest for two, at the time, non-league clubs excluding Wembley finals.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Brown suffers broken wrist
Hereford United's loanee Wayne Brown has broken his wrist and now faces a number of months on the sidelines. Graham Turner said, speaking to the Official Hereford United website, that there is work all ready going on to bring in a short term replacement for the 'keeper on a seasons long loan from Chester.
Craig Mawson will now keep his place in goal for The Bulls, which he has had in the last few games, mostly due to the terms in Brown's loan deal, which don't allow him to play in cup games whilst at Edgar Street. Mawson suprisingly kept his starting place for the home game against Woking last Saturday but is now, almost, guaranteed of a start at Dagenham tomorrow. It is thought that youngster Carl Lewis will be United's sub goalie for the encounter.
Very nice for DCB says Turner
Graham Turner has commented on Danny Carey-Bertram's International goal earlier this week.
"Very nice for him." Turner told BBC Hereford and Worcester.
"He's a young lad that had a bit of a flying spell at the club. Scored five goals at the start of the season.
"He's just dried up a little bit and things haven't gone quite so well."
Turning to tomorrow's game at Dagenham Turner relived the nine goal win two seasons ago but came down to earth when remembered the last visit.
"We came unstuck last season. It was a time we could have gone top of the table. We took the lead through Lee Mills and we collapsed a bit at the back.
"They're always competitive down there. You get the impression it's always going to be a hard game but we just feel we've got the people who can stand up to anything away from home and it's about time we had an away victory.
"We've not done badly away from home this season, we've done okay, but it's been a few games now since we actually won away in the league.
"So we've got to put that right."
Second - half coverage from Dagenham
BBC Hereford and Worcester have announced that there will be second half commentary from the Conference game at Dagenham tomorrow afternoon.
In the Hereford area the coverage will be on 94.7 FM.
Keith Hall will be their reporter at the game.
There may be internet coverage of the second-half but Bulls News is awaiting confirmation.
UPDATE: Internet coverage confirmed by Keith Hall for BBC H&W. Go to the BBC Hereford and Worcester site and click listen live.
Pitch covered at Dagenham this evening
The Official Dagenham Website has reported:
As the weather has been frosty of late in the mornings, the Club have taken the precautionary measure of covering the pitch this evening.
Trewick is delighted for Williams
John Trewick is delighted that Andy Williams is in 'pole position' to start tomorrow for the Bulls against the Daggers.
The Hereford United coach told the Worcester News that Williams made a terrific impression against Woking last Saturday.
"Andy Williams is in the team and I'm delighted for him," said Trewick. "He's worked tremendously hard and pushed himself forward.
"He was selected last Saturday with Guy Ipoua. Both played well, both scored a goal each and they caused Woking's defence all sorts of problems. It was great to see.
"He is now in pole position. It's up to him to continue to work hard to keep other players out of the side.
"Andy has a lot of enthusiasm for the game. He's got a good touch and technically he's a very good player. He can produce a finish and, last year, got his fair share of goals in the reserves.
"He's had a lot of support from the fans and quite rightly so. That's fantastic. I think the supporters like a local lad coming through into the team."
Trewick also looked forward to tomorrow's game.
"If we perform the way we did last Saturday, we will all be happy. What we are looking for is that consistency.
"We will not be underestimating Dagenham. A lot of things change in the space of a few years. Everybody knows what happened a couple of years ago, but the game changes and moves on quickly."
Trewick also revealed that both Stansfield and Simon Travis came through a reserve game at Cheltenham, but that their fitness levels need improving and both are unlikely to figure.
Team News: Dagenham Vs Bulls
Dagenham will be without Sam Saunders and Jake Leberl, but have Tim Cole back in contention after a long term knee injury and striker Chris Moore comes back from suspension. New signing Jimmy Corbett may get a place on the bench alongside Paul Bruce, who returned to first team action in the FA Cup at Hartlepool and managed 90 minutes in the Essex Senior Cup alongside Cole.
Apart from long term injury victim Stacy Coldicott and Darren Blewitt, who is still recovering from the knock picked up at Kidderminster, the rest of the Bulls squad will travel. Both Simon Travis and Adam Stansfield came through Monday's reserve match unscathed and may feature, though both were described by Graham Turner as lacking match sharpness.
Match Odds (bet365): Dagenham 11/8, Draw 11/5, Hereford 13/8.
Kidderminster Face Tough Winter
Kidderminster face a long hard winter as their financial constraints are heightened by low attendances.
Working to a break even figure of 1900 Harriers have barely met the figure thanks to the Bulls derby match, which more than doubled their previous attendance, however only three of eight other home gates have reached the target figure, and their last home match saw over 500 home supporters drift away after the tense derby game added more than 800 home supporters to their previous gate against Morecambe.
Failure in the FA Cup, after manager Stuart Watkiss admitted that the club had budgeted for a run, cost Harriers a minimum of the £10,000 prize money for winning the 4QR tie. The club remains in the LDV Trophy and the FA Trophy, but both competitions would require several victories to plug the financial gap left by the FA Cup defeat.
Should attendances reach the depths of the 1500 attendances the club got against the likes of Morecambe and Halifax then a defecit of £75,000 is easily forseeable for the remainder of the season. Chairman Barry Norgrove acknowledged last month that the club were running at a loss of £5,000 per week on gates prior to the derby match, and the club will be facing a six figure loss for the season without a dramatic improvement.
Harriers have struggled financially for the last couple of years and, with no new investment into the club, could be forced to offload some of their higher earning players at Aggborough in the January transfer window in order to remain stable.