Match Report – Ian Morris
Hereford FC’s promotion hopes are over after a disappointing defeat at home to Scunthorpe United.
Chester’s victory over Kings Lynn meant that a win for the Bulls would have secured a play-off place but a lack of conviction in the final third and an over reliance on hopeful, and increasingly hopeless, long balls saw Hereford painfully miss out.
The defeat was not down to a lack of effort and most of the 4,733 inside Edgar Street stayed to applaud the lily whites at the final whistle.
The teams came out at a busy, but not full, Edgar Street to a lively welcome. Scunthorpe fans, many of whom enjoyed pre-match refreshments at Westfields, helped to create an atmosphere that only happens when there is a proper away following.
And the Lincolnshire side started the brighter. Hereford were grateful to Sammy Robinson for scrambling clear and to Theo Richardson for being alert when Callum Roberts went around Lewis Hudson and crossed from the byline in the opening minutes.
Hudson did better in his next encounter with Roberts when he blocked the winger’s shot from a tight angle when Scunthorpe, playing in a 4-2-3-1 formation, had again worked the ball well into the Hereford penalty area.
Hereford had to wait until the 13th minute for their first shot, but the free kick from Omari Sterling-James was high and wide and far from the target.
The few occasions Hereford did get the ball on the grass brought the most promising moment and attacks down the left-hand sides caused danger and panic in the Scunthorpe box, yet no efforts on target.
But the longer the half went on, the longer Hereford went with their passing – much to the delight of Will Evans. The former Borham Wood skipper was convincing in the air and didn’t give Remaye Campbell a sniff all game.
The visitors broke the deadlock following a mix up between Yusifu Ceesay and Sammy Robinson. The former’s pass allowed Scunthorpe to break quickly.
The counter attack ended with Carlton Ubaezuonu finishing clinically from 12 yards out to send the 499 Scunthorpe fans wild.
The visitors felt they were unfortunate not to gain a penalty shortly before the interval when a defensive mix-up saw the otherwise excellent Lawson D’ath bring down Alfie Beestin.
Referee Oliver Noonan gave a free-kick, much to the annoyance of Beestin who was convinced the foul had occurred inside the penalty area.
There was more relief for Hereford fans from the resulting free-kick. Head tennis inside the penalty area saw the ball hit the post before landing in the grateful arms of Richardson.
The interval gave fans from both sides the chance to check their phones and find out scores from other games. With Brackley hammering Farsley Celtic, Scunthorpe knew their automatic promotion chances were all but over. But for Hereford, there was hope. Chester were easily beating Kings Lynn, meaning a second half comeback would secure a play-off spot.
The second half started brighter and, after Remaye Campbell’s header was saved, Hereford created their best chance of the match.
It came from a Scunthorpe corner after Richardson had bravely collected and then caressed a 70-yard dream of a pass down the inside left channel for Omari Sterling-James to collect. He took on his man and cut inside but Ross Fitzsimons in the Scunthorpe goal made a great save before the incoming Kieran Coates just failed to connect with the rebound.
Minutes later and it was Ceesay’s turn to cut in from the left-wing, but his shot was well wide. Bulls boss Paul Caddis waved to the crowd to push the team on but Ceesay miss kicked when in a good position down the left wing and Campbell side-footed tamely wide after breaking the off-side trap.
D’ath kept Hereford pushing forward and his delicate chip put Sammy Robinson past the Scunthorpe back line. But with his back to goal, his header was easily saved by Richardson.
Scunthorpe came close to doubling their lead but Tyler Denton’s fizzing strike came crashing back off the post in front of a relieved Meadow End.
Hereford brought on Andy Williams, Jaiden White, Alex Babos and Jason Cowley as they switched to a 4-4-2 formation. Babos burst clear and would have been through one-on-one had Andrew Boyce not brought him down on the edge of the box. Boyce was booked for the foul and Babos struck the wall in the resulting free-kick.
The Bulls kept pushing and Williams flicked White’s teasing cross goal bound deep into the eight minutes of stoppage time. It was one of the few balls into the box that had not been met by man-of-the-match Evans in the Irons’ defence – but this time Fitzsimons was there to stop the equaliser.
The full-time whistle rang shortly after – leaving Hereford in 10th place and three points from the play-offs.
The game was a mirror of a nearly-but-not-quite season that left fans thinking of what could have been.
