Hereford United vs Torquay United
Posted: 30 Dec 2010, 20:12
Edgar Street
Saturday 1st January 2011
KO: 3pm
Due to the cold snap that has hit the country hard in recent weeks, we only managed one fixture in the whole of December, that 1-0 defeat to Chesterfield. Games against Burton, Rotherham, Bury & Cheltenham were all postponed for later dates. However, I think we are coming out of the other side of the freezing weather, so I'm hopeful that we don't lose anymore games for a while now. We dropped out of the playoffs, as Cheltenham leapfrogged us after beating Bradford 4-0 on Tuesday, while our game at Gigg Lane was cancelled. Hopefully this game will be on, and the players will be ready for it as it is a game that we will need to battle hard in, and do enough to take 3 points from. Hereford have had a poor first half of the season, and are bottom of the table. Their most recent game was on Boxing Day, when a late goal saw them lose 2-1 at Wycombe. Here is their forum, too:
http://unofficialbulls.proboards.com/in ... esc&page=2
LAST 5 SEASONS.
2005/06 - Conference - 2nd place - 80 points - PROMOTED VIA PLAYOFFS
2006/07 - League 2 - 16th place - 55 points
2007/08 - League 2 - 3rd place - 88 points - PROMOTED TO LEAGUE ONE
2008/09 - League 1 - 24th place - 34 points - RELEGATED TO LEAGUE TWO
2009/10 - League 2 - 16th place - 59 points
It's all been a bit up and down for Bulls' fans recently. Promotion to the Football League in 2006 saw a season of consolidation, before achieving another promotion as they snook 3rd place to seal a second promotion in 3 years. League One proved to be a hurdle to much for the club, and a bottom placed finish with 34 points saw the club return to League Two. Another bottom half finish followed, without ever a threat of relegation really.
HEAD TO HEAD.
Hereford wins - 16 (6 in cup competitions)
Torquay wins - 16 (5 in cup competitions)
Draws - 23 (2 in cup)
Both clubs have the same number of victories in this fixture, with both recording 16 wins in all competitions. 23 draws have been played out throughout the years between the two sides. The first meetings between the clubs were back in 1968/69, in the FA Cup, as we progressed after a 4-2 replay win at Plainmoor. The biggest win in this fixture is back in 1992/93, when we won a League Cup replay 5-0 at Plainmoor. More recently though, we have only met four times since 2000, in 2006/07 when we went down; Hereford drew 0-0 at Plainmoor on the final day to end our stint in the League. Our return last season saw us beat the Bulls on Boxing Day, but lost at Edgar Street in February.
FORM (LAST 6 GAMES).
DLLDLL
Hereford go into this home fixture without a win in their last 6 games. Admittedly, these 6 games do stretch back to 13th November, due to postponements. A draw at home to Cheltenham was followed up by defeats at Lincoln and local rivals Shrewsbury. A draw in the FA Cup at home to Lincoln was again followed up by two consecutive defeats, at Bradford and then Wycombe. Hereford have only played two games in December.
PROBABLE LINE-UP.
This is the line up that lost 2-1 at Wycombe on Boxing Day:
Adam Bartlett
Michael Townsend
Janos Kovacs
Joe Heath
Richard Rose
Rob Purdie
Nicky Featherstone
James McQuilkin
Stuart Fleetwood
Mathieu Manset
Guillem Bauza
Subs: Lund, Lunt, Canham, Colbeck, Stratford, Weer, Heister.
PLAYERS TO WATCH.
For me, the front two of Manset & Bauza are capable of causing any defence in this league problems, so they'll need to be marked tightly so they can't impact the game. Stuart Fleetwood is also fairly decent, as we know from the BSP and Forest Green. However, I don't think his impact has been anywhere near as good in the league, but his pace will still be a big threat.
THE MEN IN CHARGE
S J RUSHTON
W Barratt and N Hobbis
Fourth Official: A J Horton
Steve Rushton is the man in the middle for this game. He has been in charge of 16 games this season, and has given out 54 yellow cards, and 3 reds. Rushton only recently made the move up to the football league, after two years in the Conference. In his time, he refereed 3 games for us in our play-off year success; a 2-0 home win over Eastbourne, a 3-2 win at Northwich, and the 1-0 playoff 2nd leg defeat at Histon. I don't recall any dodgy decisions in either of those games that I saw. He also refereed our 2-0 defeat at Bradford last August.
PREDICTION
If we want to keep where we are, then this is the sort of game we need points from. Hereford are off form, but their players could be sharper than ours as we haven't played for 3 weeks.
For that reason, I can see it being a draw, unfortunately. 1-1.
Saturday 1st January 2011
KO: 3pm
Due to the cold snap that has hit the country hard in recent weeks, we only managed one fixture in the whole of December, that 1-0 defeat to Chesterfield. Games against Burton, Rotherham, Bury & Cheltenham were all postponed for later dates. However, I think we are coming out of the other side of the freezing weather, so I'm hopeful that we don't lose anymore games for a while now. We dropped out of the playoffs, as Cheltenham leapfrogged us after beating Bradford 4-0 on Tuesday, while our game at Gigg Lane was cancelled. Hopefully this game will be on, and the players will be ready for it as it is a game that we will need to battle hard in, and do enough to take 3 points from. Hereford have had a poor first half of the season, and are bottom of the table. Their most recent game was on Boxing Day, when a late goal saw them lose 2-1 at Wycombe. Here is their forum, too:
http://unofficialbulls.proboards.com/in ... esc&page=2
LAST 5 SEASONS.
2005/06 - Conference - 2nd place - 80 points - PROMOTED VIA PLAYOFFS
2006/07 - League 2 - 16th place - 55 points
2007/08 - League 2 - 3rd place - 88 points - PROMOTED TO LEAGUE ONE
2008/09 - League 1 - 24th place - 34 points - RELEGATED TO LEAGUE TWO
2009/10 - League 2 - 16th place - 59 points
It's all been a bit up and down for Bulls' fans recently. Promotion to the Football League in 2006 saw a season of consolidation, before achieving another promotion as they snook 3rd place to seal a second promotion in 3 years. League One proved to be a hurdle to much for the club, and a bottom placed finish with 34 points saw the club return to League Two. Another bottom half finish followed, without ever a threat of relegation really.
HEAD TO HEAD.
Hereford wins - 16 (6 in cup competitions)
Torquay wins - 16 (5 in cup competitions)
Draws - 23 (2 in cup)
Both clubs have the same number of victories in this fixture, with both recording 16 wins in all competitions. 23 draws have been played out throughout the years between the two sides. The first meetings between the clubs were back in 1968/69, in the FA Cup, as we progressed after a 4-2 replay win at Plainmoor. The biggest win in this fixture is back in 1992/93, when we won a League Cup replay 5-0 at Plainmoor. More recently though, we have only met four times since 2000, in 2006/07 when we went down; Hereford drew 0-0 at Plainmoor on the final day to end our stint in the League. Our return last season saw us beat the Bulls on Boxing Day, but lost at Edgar Street in February.
FORM (LAST 6 GAMES).
DLLDLL
Hereford go into this home fixture without a win in their last 6 games. Admittedly, these 6 games do stretch back to 13th November, due to postponements. A draw at home to Cheltenham was followed up by defeats at Lincoln and local rivals Shrewsbury. A draw in the FA Cup at home to Lincoln was again followed up by two consecutive defeats, at Bradford and then Wycombe. Hereford have only played two games in December.
PROBABLE LINE-UP.
This is the line up that lost 2-1 at Wycombe on Boxing Day:
Adam Bartlett
Michael Townsend
Janos Kovacs
Joe Heath
Richard Rose
Rob Purdie
Nicky Featherstone
James McQuilkin
Stuart Fleetwood
Mathieu Manset
Guillem Bauza
Subs: Lund, Lunt, Canham, Colbeck, Stratford, Weer, Heister.
PLAYERS TO WATCH.
For me, the front two of Manset & Bauza are capable of causing any defence in this league problems, so they'll need to be marked tightly so they can't impact the game. Stuart Fleetwood is also fairly decent, as we know from the BSP and Forest Green. However, I don't think his impact has been anywhere near as good in the league, but his pace will still be a big threat.
THE MEN IN CHARGE
S J RUSHTON
W Barratt and N Hobbis
Fourth Official: A J Horton
Steve Rushton is the man in the middle for this game. He has been in charge of 16 games this season, and has given out 54 yellow cards, and 3 reds. Rushton only recently made the move up to the football league, after two years in the Conference. In his time, he refereed 3 games for us in our play-off year success; a 2-0 home win over Eastbourne, a 3-2 win at Northwich, and the 1-0 playoff 2nd leg defeat at Histon. I don't recall any dodgy decisions in either of those games that I saw. He also refereed our 2-0 defeat at Bradford last August.
PREDICTION
If we want to keep where we are, then this is the sort of game we need points from. Hereford are off form, but their players could be sharper than ours as we haven't played for 3 weeks.
For that reason, I can see it being a draw, unfortunately. 1-1.
= Football tomorrow! 