Gored by the Bulls

Fixture: Oxford United 0 Hereford United 2
Date: 26/2/11

With an unchanged line-up from last weekends superb away victory at Morecambe, Oxford welcomed the visit of a Hereford side who had won their previous five away games. So the line-up was: Clarke, Batt, Worley, Wright, Tonkin, Heslop, McLaren, Hall, MacLean, Craddock, Constable. Subs: Eastwood, Sangare, Midson, Clist, Potter, Hackney, Payne.

Oxford started the game brightly and Hereford set out their stall early on as they packed their half with bodies in an attempt to limit our passing game. Constable managed to get onto a cross by Hall after 5 minutes but his header went over the bar. But, completely against the run of play, Hereford took the lead with their first attack of the afternoon. A cross coming in from the left wing should have been dealt with easily but a combination of Clarke, Worley, Wright and Tonkin all hesitated allowing the Bull's striker Stuart Fleetwood to nip in between them all and head the ball into the net.

What was already a difficult afternoon became even worse as Hereford were content to sit deep and flood the midfield with players making it near impossible for us to find any room to play in. A foul on Heslop presented an opportunity from a free-kick just outside the area but Tonkin's shot went straight into the keepers arms.

On the half-hour mark Hall managed a long-range shot on target but the keeper got just enough on the ball to push it out for a corner. Then, after Craddock had broken clear of the Bull's defence, the striker appeared to be felled in the area but the referee waved play on much to the consternation of the crowd.

Just before half-time Oxford nearly went further behind when Clarke came rushing out of his area to clear a ball only to see it fall to a Hereford player who tried a speculative lob. Luckily it had more height on it than distance and Clarke was able to dash back and pluck it from the air! The half ended as most of it had been played, with Oxford struggling to find their way through a dogged Hereford defence.

The second half carried on where the first had finished, with Oxford trying to break down Hereford's stubborn defence. Probably the most exciting moment at the start of the half was when one of the Bull's defenders scythed down MacLean sparking a mass brawl on the touchline. The referee seemed powerless to intervene and just stood there blowing his whistle sounding like a demented budgie! Unbelievably when it died down it just resulted in a yellow card for the Hereford man.

Oxford were now permanently camped in the Hereford half but actual efforts on goal were at a minimum. A shot by Craddock just crashed against bodies and when Heslop found a way through his shot went wide of the far post. Another Craddock effort resulted in a corner from which we should have equalised on the 68th minute when the ball dropped invitingly for Worley. But with the goal at his mercy he only succeeded in blasting the ball over the bar and into the crowd behind.

Wilder then brought on Hackney and Potter for Hall and Craddock in an attempt to stretch the Bulls defence. Oxford won corner after corner as they kept up the pressure and Constable had a header comfortably saved by the keeper. Moments later a cross whipped in by Heslop evaded the entire back line was met with a ferocious header by Hackney which crashed against the underside of the bar, bouncing downwards and then out to safety.

After that chance went begging you just knew that the Gods were aligned against us and in the second minute of injury time the game was up when Hereford scored their second goal. Breaking quickly from yet another Oxford attack, Fairhurst sprinted clear of the Us defence. His shot from the edge of the area was well saved by Clarke but rebounded straight back to him where he squared it across the box to an unmarked Fleetwood to fire home into a virtually unguarded net. The game was now lost and we only had to wait a few moments longer for the final whistle to put us out of our misery.

It was a truly frustrating afternoon. We actually played attractively and tried to pass and move throughout the game, but we could have tried to shoot a bit more. A speculative shot could have deflected ... we'll never know. Hereford came with a plan to defend for a point and went home with all three - job well done for them. As for us, we need to show that determination in our next game away at Lincoln on Tuesday night.