Hereford FC (From the cider country) Away day – Farnborough!

Having my weekends back at the moment has a few major benefits which I am appreciating. Going to watch Hereford again has been a huge plus. Several trips to Edgar Street this season has shown me what I have missed the last few years!

I might reside in London but I am a Hereford lad through and through and I am proud of that!

Need to start making some of the away trips then right? It is a bonus that they are not far from me at times too. There was a failed attempt when Slough sold out in the blink of an eye, Farnborough away looked plausible though. Travelling with one of my old pals from Waterloo station, we were well up for this one. We needed to get back to winning ways after Kings Lynn in midweek. 5 points off Kings Lynn who are top of The Evo-Stick South but we have four games in hand, even with the defeat last Tuesday. It is in our own hands!

Now Hereford has a big fan base especially for the Evo-Stik South Premier Division (no offence intended). We are averaging around 2500 a match at Edgar Street, I think that’s about three times more than the second highest average in the league. It means Hereford are regularly taking more fans away than the hosting team have in the home end. Farnborough has a bar inside the stadium that everyone is allowed in but it felt like a home match. Very sociable in there as well it has to be said, maybe not so much after full-time but that’s obvious why and to be honest, understandable! More on this later. They made every attempt as a Club and fanbase to make this an enjoyable trip for us. You can even smoke in the four corners of the stadium!

It didn’t take long for us to get into good voice and the songs and chants started in the bar and didn’t really stop thereafter. The drums etc were all out and the fans got behind the lads for 90 mins. We desperately want this, players and fans alike. Maybe some fans more than others!

Unfortunately, there were a few incidents with smoke grenades and this was at a point where one more would have involved the match being abandoned. Jesus! Like most, I enjoy the football atmosphere and can get as fired up as most but to put our season in jeopardy? Where the FA could  get involved? Not for me! I didn’t see who did it but it sounds like Snapchat, Twitter or Instagram may have. Aside from fans having some fiery words between one another, the club has had to release a statement showing they mean business. Rightly so! Yes, we are a big club and a big fish in a small pond but you have to behave.

What Farnborough player Lewis Ferrell was doing throwing the last one back into the crowd after Jamie Birds header had made it 2-0, only he will! He actually released a statement himself about this today, apologising to everyone. Straight red for the lad! It actually ended up back over in the area where we were stood but I was far too busy celebrating, running over the other side of the terrace to get involved in the genuine delirium. Obviously it would not have hit me, but you get the idea, someone could have kopped it here on a serious note! I do feel a bit for Ferrell though, it looks worse than it actually was and it was a heat of the moment reaction. People make mistakes and he got away with it!

The match was then stopped for around 8 minutes. Manager Pete Beadle was told of the consequences of another bomb and our own captain (Jimmy Oates) had to come over to talk to the fans. It affected the team a bit, for me anyway. Again understandably, it is a distraction! Even though we ran out 4-2 winners and looked comfortable, at 2-1 and 3-2, it could have got squeaky. Goals from Mills(2), Bird and Symons were enough, thankfully! The fourth goal shows the class this team has, right from the restart. Straight back at em!

Let’s hope we get behind the boys big time for one last push and that some sections (under 1%), don’t get slightly too enthusiastic and spoil what could be a stellar season for us! We do have a good fanbase, who deserve promotion. Great day out all in all, here’s to more!

Finally, I have to mention John Mills whose goals were his 100th and 101st league goals for the club in only 105 appearances! Go on my son! Some record that! Here’s to another ton! A fantastic achievement and a top note to finish the blog on.

Andy Del Potro