Bulls trail after early lead

3:46pm Saturday 9th August 2008

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LEYTON Orient rallied to lead 2-1 at half-time after Dean Beckwith had given Hereford an early lead at Brisbane Road.

With just two minutes played, Randolph was in the action, dealing competently with a long-range effort from Stephen Purches.

Hereford were quickly on the attack with Ashikodi first to a Richard Rose cross which he volleyed a couple of yards wide and then Taylor seeing a 30-yard drive well saved.

Taylor was in defensive mode moments later, combining well with Diagouraga to block Jason Demetriou’s shot after the Hereford defence was opened up.

Hereford showed their attacking capabilities after 12 minutes when Diagouraga sent Rose away on the right to deliver a cross which Mkandawire put behind for a corner.

Simon Johnson’s flag-kick found Beckwith in plenty of space and his deflected header found its way into the back of the net.

Eight minutes later, however, the home side were back on level terms when JJ Melligan’s cross was missed by everyone and dribbled through Randolph’s legs and into the back of the net.

With Orient seeking to build on their goal, Adam Boyd rifled a shot just wide before the ball bounced kindly for Demetriou following a melee only for the winger to blaze over.

Then, a fine challenge by Smith denied Demetriou with a clear goalscoring opportunity beckoning.

But, on the stroke of half-time, Rose was judged to have handled the ball as Mkandawire challenged for a cross and Boyd scored from the spot.