I never thought that when I wrote my last Hereford blog on the 7th of October 2019, that it would be my last football blog for over 18 months. Thankfully I had a fix at Edgar Street and Anfield before we shut up shop. It’s been mental. The trip to Tamworth that day gave us little indication of what was to lie ahead. I knew that my son was due to be born within a month of that trip but the rest as they say is history.
The feeling of your hometown club making the final at Wembley fills you with immense pride. I have said it before but living in London for so long has made me more protective of Hereford, not just as a football club but as a place. Work commitments meant I couldn’t go to the Vase final in 2016 but I couldn’t miss this one too. It was all about being lucky in the ballot and thankfully I was.
Living in East London/Essex meant that I actually popped over to the Hornchurch ground with my boy. It is literally 5 miles away from me, so would have been rude not to. It has been a hell of an effort from them during this run with wins over Nott County in the semis and Kings Lynn earlier on. The latter being very pleasing. It was all locked up at the Hornchurch Stadium on arrival but looked like a nice little set-up there. I didn’t want to break in and get nicked, so thought I better leave it at that.
I decided to drive to Wembley on the day which sounds really strange and (probably) is. £30 to park but it’s still quicker to drive than get public transport, 24 miles in total. It did double my costs though. As it turns out I wouldn’t have wanted that tube ride home after. Stuff that! The big negative to that was that I wouldn’t be drinking on the day. It sounds and looked like the atmosphere was ‘lit’ in The Greenman. I was in truth just relieved to be going to a football match again. The potential moving of homes also scuppered any realistic plans of me having the all-dayer this time.
There was still almost an exchange on the way up to the stadium nevertheless. The usual job worths telling me to move out of the road when there wasn’t a car or fan insight down the road leading to the stadium. Another example of football fans being baited. I get it’s a safety issue but maybe, just maybe, when someone clearly isn’t pissed, just leave it. I was too focused to say anything back so just ignored them. They were probably right but there are ways of talking to people.
When I got to my seat it was a little bit surreal, I wasn’t sitting near anyone I really knew by name or by face. A bizarre feeling but like I say, I was just glad I could be there. It was a decent view as I watched the players do the warm-up and I was ready to go. Kick-off. The applause in the 9th minute for Adam Stansfield left a lump in the throat. I used to love watching Lisa play, a real team player.
It was a bright start for us and when Camwell, Finn and TOE combined on a well-worked corner, culminating in TOE finding the back of the net via a deflection, it was what we deserved. I was delighted he ran the length of the pitch to our end, where 19 rows back I could celebrate with the boys! A great moment for the Bulls and for TOE personally. I am proper pleased for him as everyone is, he deserved that moment for the two and a half years graft he has put in for us. The rest of the first half saw Grimes have everything under control at the back and Hall was quick off his line when there was any danger, very tidy all in all. Bukare chipped over at the other end, Camwell went close again with a freekick and a Butlin header was also pretty close. We needed a second though.
I spent the 15 mins at half-time just pacing sideways across my row. A few WhatsApp messages were sent saying how this was a huge 45 coming up and it could all change. For the first 30 minutes of the second half, I was going in 5 minutes spells, 5 minutes closer to winning at Wembley was in my head. I am negative by nature in these scenarios and this was no different. The trouble was Hornchurch came out a different side and their substitutions turned the game on its head. On a side note when Chris Dickson came on he was really pumped and you could see him throwing his hands in the air and generally bringing a positive vibe with him. I instantly thought of when Guy Ipoua did the same at Leicester and he turned the match for us that day. Both Hall and Hodgkiss had cleared off the line with last-ditch interventions, both of which left 3 thousand of us with our hearts in our mouth. Then it came. Bollocks! My heart sank and I think if truthful there were fans and players that felt exactly the same. Absolute sucker punch. The momentum had completely switched and we had the wind knocked out of our sails. I thought Camwell was probably our best player and was surprised to see him subbed just before. Not only was he part of some of our best-attacking moves but he was also flying into a few challenges here and there. Josh and Steve clearly know more than me though.
For the equaliser, I actually thought Hall had pulled off a carbon copy of his clearance from a few minutes before but the replay on the big screens quickly changed that theory. It was more hope on my behalf. The second came from nowhere and then let’s be honest we might as well lose 3-1 as 2-1. We had Grimes playing as a striker and obviously, there is always a huge risk then. Meh. Was it a penno with Joey btw? Looked like he was being manhandled to me. A big call that didn’t go our way at a huge time in the match.
There is always at least one player from the opposition that gets under your skin and that was their right-back, Mickey Parcell on this occasion. In fairness, his desire and will to win were there for all to see. I think he went flying in early on Butroid and that was his card marked for the rest of the match. I wasn’t the only one who thought he went in with studs showing but that may have been rose-tinted glasses. Having said that I saw him go around the Hereford lads at the end of the match and he looked pretty genuine. Nice little camera kiss too pal. I stayed around for a while to applaud the players but after that, like always, I am ready to get out and have sulk. Better in the car when hammering out some house and 90s trance eh? It was time for reflection. The match has stuck in my mind and there has been a Wembley comedown. I’m gutted but positive going forward.
I am absolutely buzzing about next season. We have all missed this badly. This group of players has got us believing again and I think I will be punting us at anything bigger than 25/1 for the league next season, with a nice little each-way angle.
Al Davies
The Gubbage and the Glory! 