Avenue returned from Edgar Street with a single bitter-sweet point yesterday following a superb performance that was only thwarted by some superb goal keeping.
The game didn’t start out as well as it was set to go on however, as Pope’s deflected shot from outside the box trickled in beyond the reach of a stranded Joe Green, Hereford taking the lead inside of 5 minutes.
Not long after Johnson had a chance to level the scores as he was played through by Adam Nowakowski, but it wasn’t to be as his resulting shot went wide.
Green was then called into action to save an Alex Bray effort after the Bradford defence failed to close the midfielder down.
Hereford’s early lead was quickly put to an end on 19 minutes. It was Avenue captain Nicky Clee who stepped up and scored his second goal in as many games, reading a loose ball in the box to smash in a half volley.
Having gotten a taste for goal, Clee received the ball inside his own half and, spotting the Hereford stopper off his line, took a shot from 50 yards that only missed by a fine margin.
Half Time: Hereford 1 – 1 Bradford
Having dominated possession and play in the first half, Avenue came out to find Hereford’s resolve had strengthened. Assisted by a strong wind the Bulls would have the better of chances in the early part of the second half.
Sodiende used his superior pace to break through the Bradford back line, going one on one with an on rushing Green, but his chipped shot was too high. Just clearing the bar to the shock of the Hereford supporters who had already cheered in unfounded celebration.
The Hereford number 10 had his best chance to find the net as the Bulls won a penalty following a miss kicked clearance from Lund. Sodiende latched onto the loose ball and drove forward into the box to be brought down by a last ditch tackle from Priestley, who received a yellow for his efforts.
Again, the Hereford supporters were ready to cheer, but it turned to groans as Sodiende’s effort hit the bar, and despite coming back across the face of the goal, it went out for a goal kick much to the relief of the travelling green army.
A 70th minute substitution saw Lewis Knight inject some much needed pace to the Avenue side, and he quickly had an impact, setting up Oli Johnson with a low cross, but Will Henry saved the shot before turning away a curled effort from Lund.
Bradford continued to apply pressure as Knight received the ball in his own half, racing past a stranded Hereford defence to produce an unbelievable save from man of the match, Henry.
Full Time: Hereford 1 – 1 Bradford
Attendance: 1586
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