HALIFAX (home) 19/10/02

Hereford threw away another two points against Halifax in yet another frustrating match for the Bulls. They will be kicking themselves even more since none of the top six teams won; even Chester lost to Woking!

Two changes were made to the team that lost to Northwich, with Richard Teesdale replacing Ian Wright in the back three, and new loan signing from Bournemouth Chukki Eribenne taking Steve Guinan's place in attack. Scott
Voice and Ben Smith were named on the bench, but played no part in the match.

Hereford started the brighter of the two sides, but fell behind after just six minutes. A poor goal kick from Matt Baker dropped straight to the feet of Ryan Mallon, and the on-loan midfielder took it around Michael Rose before
curling a shot from 25 yards into the top corner. Baker should have done better, making no attempt whatsoever to save it.

Unsurprisingly, Hereford went on the attack in search of a goal, but were restricted to a succession of crosses that were cleared by an industrious Halifax defence. A cross from Matt Clarke was met by the head of the
hard-working Eribenne, but he could only head wide.

After half an hour, United were level. Mick Galloway's attempted cross eluded everyone, but Matt Clarke, on the opposite side of the pitch, managed to pick up the loose ball. He returned it to the centre and Jamie Pitman
half-volleyed the ball past Lee Butler, confusingly wearing a Hereford goalkeeper's jersey, from the edge of the box. That was his fifth goal of the season, making him United's top scorer. Just like on Tuesday night, half time came with the scores level.

Halifax opened the second half slightly the brighter side, with Matt Baker being forced into making a good save from Ian Fitzpatrick. The same player had another effort ten minutes later, but this time Baker managed to hold
onto the ball.

Gradually Hereford started to come back into the game, with Paul Parry in particular causing the Shaymen's defence a few problems. He won a few corners from his menacing low crosses being deflected behind. On one
occasion, having skinned right-back Alistair Asher, his cross-shot hit the side netting. Michael Rose took a free-kick from 25 yards after Sean MacCauley fouled Danny Williams, but his effort never looked like troubling Butler.

The rest of the match consisted of Halifax's defence blocking a series of shots, with Paul Stoneman in particular doing well to block two efforts from debutant Eribenne. Although Hereford dominated much of the match, the fact that Butler did have very many saves to make says something positive about the way the Shaymen defended.

Eribenne had a lively debut, working well to bring his team-mates into the match. His finishing will improve given time. Teesdale also settled in well, having only played a handful of first-team matches.

Overall, Hereford were the slightly better side, but a draw was probably a fair result.

Hereford: Baker, Clarke, Rose, Tretton, Teesdale, James (c), Pitman, Williams, Galloway, Eribenne, Parry.

Subs (not used): Voice, Griffiths, Purdie, Fox, Smith