Theo’s last-gasp cracker lifts Bulls into second

5:45pm Saturday 15th December 2007

Bury 0 Hereford United 1

HEREFORD centre-back Dean Beckwith wore a delighted but relieved expression after the Bulls came away from Gigg Lane with an important League 2 win.

United had been pushed back by the lively home side for long periods after half-time before Theo Robinson conjured a goal out of nothing in the last minute.

"We were under pressure for most of the second half, but we started the first half well and for 10 or 15 minutes I thought we were on top," said Beckwith.

"Then the game evened itself out for a while and they had a lot of pressure in the second but we defended well and got the win at the end.

"Nicky Adams has got some pace on the right but Lee Collins was one of our best players today and played him very well.

"He is not normally a left-back, he is a right-back or a centre-half so to come in and play as well as he has done is a credit to him.

"Andy Bishop is a decent player, he is good in the air and he is lively but we knew that before the game. I thought we handled him quite well."

Hereford might have taken the lead in the ninth minute when Robinson's header from a Sam Gwynne cross was cleared off the line by Steve Haslam.

But the two best openings in a first half of few chances fell to the home side.

Ben Futcher's header from an Adams free-kick was well saved by Wayne Brown.

Bishop then flashed a header inches side from Adams' cross.

In the second half, Adams posed a considerable threat on the right.

However, the biggest talking point for the home fans came when Bulls defender John McCombe and home striker Glynn Hurst chased a through ball midway through the period.

"It was quite similar to the incident at Walsall last season when I got sent off," said Beckwith.

"John McCombe is a big lad and in a tussle between him and Hurst there is only going to be one winner.

"I didn't think it was a foul and, thankfully for us, neither did the referee."

The introduction of substitutes Trevor Benjamin and Clint Easton after 73 minutes gave Hereford a bit more presence.

And Benjamin was involved when Hereford grabbed the points with seconds of normal time remaining.

He and Collins worked the ball to Robinson, who created some space on the left of the area before cracking a fierce left-foot shot across goalkeeper Jim Provett and into the corner of the net for his 10th goal of the season.

"It is the sort of thing that he can do," said Beckwith, who added with an ironic smile: "We had held on for the whole of the second half and then he crossed it into the top corner, so he has done well for us.

"It is a great run coming up to Christmas when there are a lot of games but that has put us second and hopefully we can carry on from there.

"You cannot always play well, dominate teams and win 5-0. Away from home Bury is a difficult game.

"Bury set out to defend against us but we broke them down in the end and everyone is delighted with the win."

Hereford: Brown; McClenahan, Beckwith, McCombe, Collins; Gwynne (Webb, 87 min), Smith, Diagouraga, Johnson (Easton, 73 min); Guinan (Benjamin, 73 min), Robinson. Subs not used: Ingham, Taylor.

Bury: Provett, Scott, Woodthorpe (Mangan, 90 min), Futcher, Morgan, Haslam, Hurst, Bishop, Buchanan, Parrish, Adams. Subs not used: Baker, Barry-Murphy, Hughes, McAllister.

Referee: Jon Moss (West Yorkshire).

Attendance: 2,099 (206 from Hereford).

Yellow cards: Hereford - Robinson, kicking ball away, 90 min; Bury - Hurst, foul, 58 min; Hereford - Robinson, 90 min, 1-0.

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