Braintree Town VS Hereford United Match report 8-3-14

Braintree Town Vs Hereford United match report 8/3/14

Braintree could not make a dominant display count against a Hereford side that were looking for their first point in six games, losing five on the bounce and conceding 16 goals in the process. Hereford will have been pleased to have ended a losing streak which included a 7-0 loss against league leaders Luton, but Braintree can feel slightly hard done by as a barrage of attempts in the second half came to nothing.  A first half strike was quickly cancelled out by Hereford striker Dan Walker, which would be the only goals recorded.

Iron won a free kick 25 yards out within the first six minutes, with Davis setting down the ball for a cross. Holman took the defensive line by surprise when he used the dead ball as an opportunity to shoot, but failed to threaten with an effort that never stopped rising. Minutes later Mulley picked up the ball from a throw deep into the visitors half, and crossed to find Marks just yards from the goal line. Mulley’s delivery flashed across the six yard box and out for a goal kick, with Marks unable to provide the amount of contact needed to turn the ball in.

A long ball into the Iron box saw striker Dan Walker collide with Ryan Peters, tumbling to the ground in search of a penalty. The referee blew for a free kick the other way with no infringement seen and very few appeals to suggest any foul play. Barnard Mensah looked lively early on when he picked up a loose ball on the Iron’s right hand side. He used his pace to outrun the backpedalling defence, then stopping the ball dead inside the box and setting himself up to shoot. Changing feet, Mensah tried a curling effort with his left, which drifted high and wide beyond the goalkeeper’s far post.

Danny Leadbitter saw yellow when he pulled down Bernard Mensah on the left hand side, who was sprinting onto a superbly weighted ball from deep which could have caused problems to the Bulls. Just past the half an hour mark, a corner in from the right hand side found Alan Massey, who side footed to the goalkeepers left hand side. The shot was cleared off the line, but only as far as an on rushing Dan Holman, who put gave Iron the lead by keeping his cool to guide the ball past Lloyd-Weston. However, the lead was short lived when down the other end a rare Hereford attack saw Frankie Artus bearing down on goal. He squared the ball to Dan Walker who was in support on to his right. Walker controlled well, and slotted the ball across goal into Hamann’s bottom right corner to bring the game level where it stayed until half time.

Braintree continued to threaten in the second half, coming close when Luke Daley made a run down the right. His deflected shot went out for a corner, which was sent in by Bernard Mensah. The searching ball could not meet an orange shirt, which was an outcome that was to be replicated by another corner just minutes later.  Poor control by Bulls defender Luke Graham allowed Sean Marks to find himself in space just yards away from the visiting box. Marks was forced away from goal by the bobbling ball, which he played into Mensah. Mensah’s close control set up a chance for Dan Holman, who struck first time across goal, but was way off target to the relief of the visitors.

Alan Massey’s shove on Dan Walker handed the Bull’s a free kick 25 yards from goal. Jamie Edge set his sights on the Braintree goal, placing the ball carefully into position. His shot could not test Hamann, who watched on as the effort glided over the crossbar.

Fifteen minutes from time, Dan Holman turned inside the visitors half, taking a snap shot from thirty yards out, which missed the target with the game looking like it was going to finish all square. Holman was determined not to let that happen, creating another chance minutes later when he played in a fast paced cross from the left wing. The cross trickled just yards in front of the goal line with no Braintree striker in a position to take advantage. A long ball in just seven minutes from time found Bernard Mensah, who struck a rocketing volley at goal with his left. Daniel Lloyd-Weston did well to tip the strike over the bar to keep the scores level at a time of constant pressure from the Iron. However, five minutes of added time was not enough for the home side who struggled to create chances in injury time, with the long ball game proving to be ineffective as both sides exchanged header upon header until the final whistle was blown.

Alan Devonshire saw the positives in the performance more than the result when reflecting after the whistle. “I thought we deserved to win the game. They came to spoil, we’ll take a point and move on.”

A dominant performance against another full time club is a great credit to the players, one that does not go unnoticed to the Iron boss. “I’m delighted with the shift that they have put in since coming back. I’ve got to take one game at a time and see where we’re at. I would have taken eight out of twelve (points) before we came back. We’ll rest up now, raring to go against Wrexham who are another difficult side as well”.

Braintree Town: Hamann, Peters, Habergham, Wells, Massey, Davis, Paine, Mulley (Daley), Mensah, Marks, Holman

Unused Subs: McDonald, Isaac, Sparkes, Moore

Hereford United: Lloyd-Weston, Leadbitter (Brown), Bush, Graham, McDonald, Collins, Edge, Artus, Sharp, Walker, James

Unused subs: Purdie, Smith, Murphy, Evans

 

Referee: Colin Lymer

Assistants: Adrian Piggott and Andrew Tonks

Fourth Official: Andrew Parker

Attendance:  805