Hereford United were knocked out of the LDV Vans Trophy last night by Macclesfield Town at Moss Lane. It is the second season in succession that The Bulls have been eliminated at the (Northern) area semi-final stage against League opposition.
United, without the injured Adam Stansfield and Stacey Coldicott, cup-tied Daryl Taylor and ineligible Wayne Brown, started with an unfamiliar 4-5-1 formation with Andy Williams and Danny Carey-Bertram occupying the wings. There was a recall to the starting eleven for Guy Ipoua, Craig Mawson and Carey-Bertram and Ryan Green returned from injury and was named amogst the substitutes.
The first half had rather and "end-to-end" style to it, but it was Macclesfield who were by far the happier of the two sides at the break, despite play having been fairly equal. The Silkmen always looked dangerous going forwards, with midfielders breaking quickly from the midfield, something that Hereford lacked, although Ipoua played well as the lone-striker. However, it was Martin Bullock in the centre who provided the first chance for the hosts. His through ball found Danny Whitaker but Mawson saved when the striker was through, and Tamika Mkandawire cleared for a corner.
Whitaker had been denied this time, but with nineteen minutes gone he broke the deadlock. He managed to force his way through the centre of Hereford's defence and left Mawson with no chance as he smashed home the opener from ten yards out. United put The Silkmen under some pressure but didn't trouble 'keeper Alan Fettis, even though Williams did well to put in some dangerous crosses from the right flank. At the other end Kevin Townson saw a shot deflected behind by Beckwith, but Hereford broke from the resulting corner through Pitman who supplied a good pass for Carey-Bertram, however he fired Hereford's only real shot of the half just wide.
There was still time left in the half, though, for The Silkmen to double their advantage after fourty five minutes. Kevin McIntyre turned his man on the edge of the Bull's box and knocked the ball to his left where Paul Harsley fired into the top corner, again leaving Mawson with no chance. Graham Turner made a much needed change at the interval, with Rob Purdie replacing Andy Ferrell and he switched the formation to a 4-4-2 with Carey-Bertram joining Ipoua in attack.
The change in formation was an effective one as The Whites began to threaten much more. Ipoua, at the heart of nearly everything that United created, headed a Mawson goal kick on for Carey-Bertram who poked over from the left of the penalty box. Ipoua then fired inches wide as he showed good strength and power to burst through the centre of The Silkmen's defence and went closer again with a speculative effort from twenty five yards that flew just over the bar.
Williams headed wide from a Purdie corner as United again failed to foce a save out of Fettis, but continued to peg their graded opponents back and limit them to very rare attacks on the break, which led to nothing. Craig Stanley played man of the match Ipoua through just ahead of the defence, but he was denied reasonably easily by Fettis while Mkandawire, still up from a corner late on, managed to turn his man in the box but the ball, that had been played just in front of him, was cleared by David Morley.
It was a disappointing result in the end for Hereford, who had good reason to feel that they had done enough to at least get a draw that would have taken the tie to extra-time. The first half ended up being decisive and it was the hosts who were much more prepared to gamble and send men forward from the midfield to support their front men who gained a place in the area final. Maybe if one of the three centre midfielders in Ferrell, Pitman, and Stanley, had given more support to Ipoua, who stood out throughout, then the result may have been different. The attendance was perhaps a little disappointing for the hosts, as they could only manage around 1,000 fans in a crowd of 1,315.
HUFC: Mawson, Travis, Mkandawire, Beckwith, Jeannin, Williams, Pitman, Ferrell, Stanley, Carey-Bertram, Ipoua. Subs: James, Lewis, Green, Evans, Purdie.
MTFC: Fettis, Swailes, Morley, Sandwith, Harsley, Whitaker, Navarro, McIntyre, Bullock, Wijnhard, Townson . Subs: Beresford, Lee, Teague, Miles, Smart