Blues 2 Hereford Utd 1 .. Match Report

Last updated : 18 October 2007 By Richard Barker

Blues started well, and gradually went downhill, whilst Hereford started like a bunch of amateurs, but improved as the game progressed/Blues got complacent. As expected, Steve Bruce made various changes to the Blues side, whilst some of the first teamers retained their places. Richard Kingson came in for his debut in goal, and the likes of Rowan Vine and Neil Danns came in for starts.

Blues started fairly confidently and played some neat football with Seb Larsson at the heart of much of it, and Vine, Garry O'Connor and Gary McSheffrey all often involved, if not necessarily delivering. O'Connor scored with a fine finish and McSheffrey got lucky with his finish, and that was pretty much that for the first half.

Second half, credit to Hereford, they had a real go at Blues. Blues got very sloppy, and Toumani Diagouraga was able to impose himself in the middle of midfield, whilst the introduction of Steve Guinan gave Hereford a bit more know-how and experience up front, and it wasn't long before they made it 2-1. They couldn't get another, but in fairness to them, they went close on several occasions, whilst McSheffrey squandered several chances as Blues hit back on the break.

Kingson had a decent enough debut - he had no chance with the goal. He's unconventional, but one wander into no man's land at a corner aside, he looked ok. One double save in the second half was reminiscent of the kind of saves he made in last year's World Cup earning himself worldwide acclaim.

The duo of Danns and Vine are much-maligned, and gave very differing performances here. For the qualities he may lack, at least you can always say Danns has a go, and he really tried to drive the midfield forward. He gave the ball away at times, and was sometimes sloppy, but at least he has a good go, and at times he looked pretty impressive. Vine, on the other hand, looked like he had no interest in the game and was poor.

Someone else who I think was poor, despite his goal, was McSheffrey. I'm not sure if he's got a bit of a chip on his shoulder at the moment, but his play is selfish and greedy, and unfortunately he appears to have lost much of the ability he displayed a year ago. Some of his finishing was dreadful (even his goal was straight at the 'keeper, only to squirm under his body) and his runs forward now seem to be broken up by him getting the ball caught under his feet. His form must be something of a worry.

But, there you go, not a lot to report. Blues are in the hat for the next round, and that's all that matters in the Cup, but fair play to Hereford for making a game of it.