Alex Birch (words) & Stefan Willoughby (pics) at Edgar Street
THE Magpies came away with a well-fought point from their midweek Vanarama National League North tussle with Hereford at Edgar Street.
The teams spent the opening exchanges getting a feel for each other as the cold air started to bite; WIll Tomlinson and Jon Ustabaşı both tried long range efforts without getting close to testing Dale Eve in the home goal.
The game threatened to ignite around the half hour mark when both teams had golden chances to score. First, Ryan McLean tried to go round Matt Urwin instead of shooting, which the delighted Chorley keeper saved with a sprawl. Within a minute Ustabaşı was clean through at the other end only for Eve to repel his stinging effort.
The best chance of the half then fell the Bulls’ way just before the break. Somehow Kane Thompson-Sommers hit the post and then the rebound at Urwin from inside the six yard box off a Jack Holmes corner.
A fast opening to the second half by Hereford almost produced an opener within 90 seconds. Hesitation in the box gave Coventry City loanee Marco Rus the chance to shoot, but Urwin saved well from close range.
The Romanian was luckier with his next effort as the Bulls took the lead on 62 minutes. James Melhado’s cross fell to Rus, who was initially denied by Urwin, only for the midfielder to stab home the rebound.
There on out the game fell fairly quiet – a Tyrone Barnett header over and an Ustabaşı strike well saved notwithstanding. Andy Owens & Justin Johnson were introduced by Andy Preece as the Magpies chased an equaliser.
That equaliser came in the 94th minute as Harvey Smith rose unmarked to power home Blakeman’s corner, rescuing a point for the Magpies.
Hereford Eve; Evans, Haines (c), Thompson-Sommers, McLean (Dinanga, 79′), Hanson, Barnett, Holmes (Pendley, 90’+3), Thompson, Melhado (Latty-Fairweather, 68′), Rus. Subs not used: Pinchard, Storey.
Chorley Urwin (c); Henley (Owens, 69′), Smith, Wilson, Whitehouse, Calveley, Tomlinson, Ustabaşı, Shenton (Johnson, 69′), Blakeman, Hall. Subs not used: Nolan, Okome, Barry.
We rode our luck a little bit against what is a very good Hereford team. This is a great point on the road – Andy Preece
HT 0-0
Goals (assists) Rus 62′ (Melhado) | Smith 90’+4 (Blakeman)
Cautions Hanson 48′, Thompson-Sommers 88′ | Blakeman 34′, Ustabaşı 60′
Dismissals None | None
Crowd 1,110
Officials Andy Humphries | Dan Stokes & David Hinton
Next Up
We return home for Match Day 22 of the Vanarama National League North campaign – AFC Telford United visiting HQ on Saturday at 3pm. Tickets have been reduced and are available online here or on the day – £12 Adults | £10 65+/Concessions | £5 12-20s | FREE accompanied u12s
