Mangotsfield v Hereford, Tuesday January 10th, 2017

Mangotsfield 0 Hereford 1

This was a rearranged fixture from late November. On the original date the game had been called off due to a frozen pitch not long before kick off. Most Hereford fans had not only set off but had arrived at Cossham Street before getting wind of the decision. It is fair to say there was a bit of tension between the two clubs over who was to blame for the late abandonment. Allegations ranged from refs being leaned on to a Chairman trying to defrost the six yard box with a kettle. What ever the truth of the matter, everyone's focus was firmly on the football on this mild January night.

Hereford came in to the game as run away leaders and still unbeaten in the league. Mangotsfield were in a rich vein of form themselves that had seen them rise to fourth, looking to bed themselves in the play off positions for the second half of the season.

Predicting a bumper crowd that goes hand in hand with Hereford away games, I ensured I arrived at Cossham Street in plenty of time. On entering the ground I realised I'd managed to leave my memory card for my camera at home and was thus reliant on my phone for pictures. Apologies for the lo fi images...

I was last at Cossham street a couple of summers ago for a pre season frinedly. It's a nice compact ground on the outskirts of Bristol. You enter on the side of the pitch that houses the Ralph Miller stand, this is the only seated part of the ground and straddles the half way line. Along side the Ralph Miller stand is the changing rooms, a large bar and club house and a well stocked club shop is tucked away in a shipping container.
Opposite are the dug outs which are embedded in to the low roofed terrace behind them. In fact the dug outs are so much part of the stand that when watching from that part of the ground you can almost stand shoulder to shoulder with the managers if you so wish. The remainder of the ground consists of two covered terraces behind the goals, the one at the road end slightly bigger than the other.

I joined the que for a cup of tea and took in the team news. I'd seen Hereford earlier this season in the FA Cup and was pleased to see the team hadn't changed much. I was looking forward to seeing the deadly duo of Mills and Symmons upfront. Ex Bristol City duo Plummer and Fortune were still there along with Jamie Edge in midfield who had caught the eye previously. Disappointingly ex Wolves, Hereford United and perma-tan man Ryan Green was missing in defence.

For Mangotsfield, or The Field as they are known, Lewis Hogg was in the starting line up. Now 34 and assistant manager, Hogg was something of local sensation in his youth. Captain of Bristol Rovers whilst still a teenager, big things were expected of him before he left Rovers in his early 20's. He subsequently enjoyed a successful carer mainly in the conference and surprisingly never graced the football league again. I was also pleasantly surprised to recognise Steve Phillips warming up in goal. The ex Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, Shrewsbury and Crewe keeper joined The Field last month from Bath City. On a short term loan apparently in an effort to regain match fitness after coming back from injury.

The que for the snack bar was a long one and slow moving. The attendance tonight was given as 602 and I imagine at least 450 of those were from Hereford. I got speaking to a friendly Bulls fan in front of me who was looking forward to the game and was clearly enjoying his evening. The group behind me were a bit less enthusiastic, grumblings ranged from stewards not knowing what they were doing, to the club not anticipating a large crowd and putting on more catering staff with several "Tin Pot" references thrown in. These fans seemed to be in the minority and perhaps the late abandonment and wasted journey was still fresh in the memory for them. But it did get me thinking of what it must be like for Hereford fans travelling to grounds -this season and last- that are far smaller than they are used to in their long history.

For the most part I imagine other clubs love having Hereford in their league. For many players at this level, performing in front of 3,000 at Edgar Street will be a highlight of their career. In addition the fantastic travelling support the Bulls take with them means a potential big pay day when the Hereford express rolls in to town. The increased ticket, bar and food sales provides a much needed boon to clubs who often struggle to keep up with their outgoings. Inevitably there will be some tensions, clubs in this league often rely on a very small number of people, mainly volunteers, to keep running and prepare for match days. Usually used to just about coping when a hundred people turn up, they likely wont have a pool of supporters big enough to call upon when 500 odd more turn up for a mid week game in January. As a result, the Hereford fans have to suffer the long ques, lack of stewards and overflowing car parks. Additionally, I imagine the regulars at the hosting clubs risk feeling their noses have been put out of joint when they are outnumbered by five to one on their own turf. Especially when Hereford keep on winning!

Enough though of this speculating, to the game...

Straight from the kick off it became evident that the pitch was a bobbly one. A few early touches went amiss and it looked like both teams realised that this wasn't the ideal surface to string passes together along the ground. Hereford looked to have adapted well when after just a couple of minutes Mills broke in to the box but his right footed shot drew a good save from Phillips.
As the half progressed, Mangotsfield managed to get in to the final third a few times, won a couple of corners but didn't manage to create much in the way of clear chances.
At the other end, home captain and centre back Brice was battling well with Symmons aka 'The Beast', winning his share of headers and generally preventing him from being able to hold the ball up in usual effective way. On the one occasion when Symmons was able to show his strength and protect the ball, it enabled him to turn and shoot from close range but Phillips was there again with an impressive stop.

Almost in the dug out

Shortly after came the contentious moment of the game. Hereford were awarded a free kick just out side the box. The ref stood over the ball whilst Phillips positioned himself at his post organising the wall. Mike McGrath standing next to the ref asked if he could take it, the ref must have said yes and at the last minute stepped back leaving McGrath to swing the ball over in to the far corner of the net with the keeper flat footed and stranded at the other post. The goal was given and the whole Mangotsfield team set off in pursuit of the ref in protest. Social media was awash in the aftermath of the game with debates around the rules around quick free kicks. Bulls manager Peter Beadle conceded in his post match interview that the ref may have made a mistake, saying that it might have been wrong to allow the free kick to be taken after the initial window for a quick one had seemingly past with the keeper busy setting up his wall. For me even if it was completely legal, the way the ref hovered near the ball until the last moment seemed to disguise the fact that he was happy for it to be taken. I'm still not clear on the rules but most importantly the goal stood and it was 1-0 at the break.

The game remained tight in the second half. Hereford had a chance which was saved on to the bar, in an attempt to get the rebound Tristan Plummer ended up in the net as the keeper just got to the ball ahead of him. At this point a bloke I'd been chatting to then asked me if I watched Goggle Box? I thought this was strange small talk for the terraces but it turns out that Hereford wideman Tristan is a regular on the Channel 4 show with his brothers Twain and Termaine! I'll have to tune in and have a look. Throughout the second half the noise generated from the Hereford fans was impressive. They were crammed in to the smaller of the two terraces behind the goal they were attacking. Led by a drummer they rarely let up and got through an impressive catalogue of songs.

Mangotsfield were working hard in searching for an equaliser. They managed to get a fair few decent looking crosses in, but Hereford's centre back Fortune towered over their forwards and manged to clear the danger. Most of The Field's best moves seemed to involve midfielder Kerry Morgan. I wasn't surprised to learn he'd played for the like of Swansea and Newport previously. He also had a couple of chances himself that he hit over the bar. The home team will be disappointed that the Hereford keeper remained largely untroubled throughout the evening.

At the other end, Mills had a good chance to put the game to bed. Through on goal he was denied by Phillips again with a brilliant finger tip save pushing the ball past the post. Prolific as Hereford's attacking unit has been this season, it can't be often that they come up against a keeper with 500 odd football league appearances to his name. Tonight it looked like it would take something like a controversial quickly taken free kick to beat him.

1-0 at full time. No shortage of effort and commitment from both teams. Hereford dug in well for another 3 points on the road that see's them continue their remarkable form this season.

@goneforaburtone