26-12-22. Match report Vs Hereford FC

The nervous wrecks beat the Bulls

Report: Phil Lench

A first half Jack Bearne goal was enough to settle the first part of this derby game of Hereford FC ‘against the Worcestershire footballing non-entity that isn’t Worcester City or Redditch whatever-they’re-called. Or Sporting Bromsgrove. Or Bromsgrove Sporting.’ In the end, even if there were no further goals, it was a game that we were well in control of to end a ten year wait for a league victory at Edgar St for the team that ‘purport to be full-time actual professional footballers are stealing a living’.

It was at Christmas 2012 that we last won down there, thanks to a Jamille Matt goal, so to see Jacks well worked goal and hear the cheers of over 550 Harriers fans was well worth waiting for. To be honest there was very little else that the game was memorable for apart from an Ashley Hemmings cross come shot that the former Harriers non playing keeper, Dale Eve, managed to flip over the bar.

The game started for us with something of a strange line-up. Joe Leesley and Shane Byrne were named on the bench while Kai Lissimore started his first game of the season. Strangely neither Leesley or Byrne were out for the warm up either but it later transpired that they’d been held up on the motorway on the way to the game. Hence them being ‘dropped’ to the bench.

Even stranger was, once the game got underway, that Hereford were playing a centre-forward, Aaron Amadi-Holloway as a centre-half. No wonder they were rubbish and the fans want rid of manager Josh Gowling as soon as.

The game got underway with the Harriers heading into the low winters sun but that didn’t seem to bother them very much. Only Tom Palmer had the odd problem with his kicking but then again that looked to be his normal style of kicking. We took the game straight at the Bulls and for the first twenty minutes there was only one team in it but then disaster almost struck.

Marco Rus went on a rare foray forward for Hereford with Joe Foulkes in pursuit. He got into the area, or did he?, when Joe bought him down and the referee pointed in the general direction of the penalty spot but then placed the ball just inches outside the area much to the relief of the Harriers fans who were expecting the worst. They messed the free kick up!

Just a few minutes later we had taken the lead.

Lissimore picked the ball up in the middle of the park and was then given a slight push on the back by Thierry Latty-Fairweather and went to ground but not before Kai had played the ball on for Zak Brown to then play it out wide to Bearne who cut inside and fired a lovely curling ball beyond the grasp of Eve. Gowling later complained that the foul was a foul on Latty. Gowling is deluded.

Hereford responded with a soft shot that Palmer saved easily and then again a few minutes later with a shot that he sent well wide of the mark. Marco Rus, on loan from Coventry City, looked to be their only real first half threat along with Holmes but neither were all that good. Their big centre forward Tyrone Barnett was getting no joy alone up front and reminded one of our own Amari Morgan-Smith at times.

It would have been nice to go into the break with another goal but it wasn’t to be so maybe in the second half we’d get one, or more, in front of the Hereford fans in the Meadow End.

HT: 0 – 1

To be honest the second half was poor from both sides with Hereford just about edging it without even getting a shot on target. It took until the fifty third minute before someone woke up the fans when Holmes again ran into the area past at least three Harriers defenders before Foulkes managed to rob him of the ball cleanly and we finally saw it cleared away to safety. It was something of a wake up call.

The Bulls began to get into the game more and more but we coped with the slight pressure easily enough to keep them at arms length from the goal. In goal Tom Palmer was treading on thin ice with his time wasting and eventually got himself booked towards the end of the game. The third time this season for time wasting and it’s something that he’s going to have to stop doing.

Hemmings had his shot/cross on the hour mark then found himself subbed soon after by Joe Leesley while some time later Tom Owen-Evans went off to a chorus of boos from the fans that once loved him. Shane Byrne replaced him but the game still didn’t improve much beyond that.

The game finally dragged itself to an end and, according to Bulls News that ‘one gets the impression that Kidderminster are nervous wrecks afraid of their own shadows given how the first half of their season has played out. An early Bulls goal and a bit of intimidatory noise from the crowd, which may not be quite as bumper as it should be after that recent dismal run, should push them over the edge here’, never happened and the Harriers ran out worthy first gear winners and we can now look forward to another three points at Aggborough on New Years Day.

All quotes in italics copyright of the unfunny and sarcastic Bulls News preview: http://bullsnews.blogspot.com/2022/12/full-time-are-you-kiddying.html

FT: 0 – 1

Goal for Harriers: Bearne 24

The Harriers Online MotM is: Kai Lissimore

Talk about the game here

Latest table and stats here

Hereford FC	Goals	Subs	Time	Cards
Eve
Latty-Fairweather
Evans
Haines
Hanson
Amadi-Holloway
McLean			64
Thompson-Sommers			64
Barnett
Rus
Holmes
Subs:
Pinchard			64
Storey			64
Pendley
Thompson
Dinanga
Harriers	Goals	Subs	Time	Cards
Palmer
Foulkes
Richards
McNally
Pearce
Lissimore
Owen-Evans			82
Brown
Morgan-Smith
Hemmings			69
Bearne
Subs:
Martin
Margetson
Freemantle
Byrne			82
Leesley			69
Referee:
Mr Ross Martin
Bridport