Hereford United vs. Tranmere Rovers match preview

Last updated : 15 January 2008 By Matthew Jones
The F.A. Cup keeps coming as Tranmere head to Hereford for a Bull Fight
It's take two this Wednesday, as Tranmere Rovers travel to Edgar Street to take on Hereford United in an F.A. Cup third round replay following the two sides 2-2 draw at Prenton Park on January 5th.

The prize for the winner will be a fourth round tie at home to Championship side Cardiff City, a game which each team will think winnable and therefore the incentive is there for the sides to go forth and book their place in the next round.


Hereford United team profile:

Formed: 1924
Ground: The Bullring/Edgar Street
Manager: Graham Turner
Nickname: The Bulls
S
eason Finish 2006/07: 16th (Coca-Cola League Two)

Previous Meetings:

When the two sides met in the F.A. Cup on January 5th, the two sides drew 2-2, therefore ensuring that this replay would take place.

All the goals came after the hour mark, as Hereford twice lead but League One side Tranmere twicel levelled to earn the replay against the League Two side.

Hereford scored their first on 65-minutes as Ben Smith his a stunning volley from just inside the area into the top left-hand corner past Coyne after two initial blocks from previous shots, before Rovers levelled on 75-minutes through former Hereford player Steven Jennings, who netted off the cross bar from subsitute Mike Jones' cross.

A minute later and the away team were once again in the lead, this time through well-travelled striker Trevor Benjamin, who scored from Theo Robinson's assist.

On 78-minutes though, Gareth Taylor rounded off an increadible three minutes as he scored a diving header at the back post from McLaren's cross, levelling the game at 2-2 in front of the Kop.

Vital Stats:

Tranmere have won six times in their 14 visits to Hereford, with the Bulls only picking up five home wins

This will be the third consecutive cup game between the two teams

Tranmere's biggest win against Hereford was a 6-1 demolition in the 1974/75 season

Hereford chairman Graham Turner is also the clubs manager

Hereford average less than a goal a game at home to Tranmere, netting 13 times in 14 games, whilst Rovers have scored 18 times as the away side

On This Day:

2007: Tranmere win 1-0 at home to Crewe Alexandra in the twice postponed League One game, a rare Tuesday night win for Rovers

1999: Rovers draw 1-1 at Ashton Gate against Bristol City

1994: One of the first league meetings between Tranmere Rovers and Nottingham Forest ends in a 2-1 defeat for the home side at Prenton Park in Division One

From ten previous games on January 16th, Tranmere have picked up four wins, four draws and two defeats. They have scored 15 and conceeded 12 goals on this day, whilst surprisingly they have never played an F.A. Cup game on January 16th

The Form Book:

Hereford last 6 home games: WDLWWD
Tranmere last 6 away games: LLLDLW

League Two promotion contenders Hereford United have been in good form so far this season on home soil, losing just one of their last six games at Edgar Street.

In the first game of their six match sequence, Hereford drew 0-0 against Accrington Stanley before picking up an excellent 2-0 home win against League One Hartlepool United in the F.A. Cup second round.

This result was followed by a second consecutive win over Lincoln City (3-1) before Graham Turner's side suffered a surprise 3-0 defeat to league new boy's Morecambe in the league.

Since though, Hereford are unbeaten on home soil, as they first drew 0-0 with struggling Notts County before defeating local rivals Shrewsbury 3-1 on Sunday.

Other notable home results for Hereford include wins over Yeovil Town (4-1) in the League Cup and league wins over Darlington (5-1) and Mansfield (2-1).

From 17 home games so far this season in all competitions, the second placed team in League Two have picked up eight wins, six draws and three defeats. In the league they have picked up 22 of an available 39 points.

Impressive away results for Hereford include wins against Leeds United (1-0) in the F.A. Cup and league victories against Bradford City (3-1), Macclesfield (1-0) and Wrexham (2-0).

Tranmere's away form has continued to slide in the league as they are without a win on the road in League One since early October. However, they are still unbeaten away from home in the cup this season.

Rovers' last win away from home came in the first match of their six match sequence as they beat Bradford City 3-0 away from home.

However, they followed this up with a dire 3-1 away defeat to Hartlepool United before drawing 0-0 with relegation threatened Port Vale in the league.

Since, Tranmere have suffered three straight defeats in the league. Firstly, Rovers lost 1-0 unluckily at Luton Town before they travelled to Gresty Road on New Years Day and were unlucky to suffer a 4-3 following the sending off of captain Ian Goodison.

In their most recent away game, Tranmere lost 3-0 against Leyton Orient, despite being the better team until left-back Shane Sherriff was sent off on 50-minutes.

Other notable away results for Tranmere include wins against Southend (2-1), Gillingham (2-0) and Carlisle United (1-0), as well as a 2-1 F.A. Cup success away to Chesterfield.

From 15 away games this season, Tranmere have picked up five wins, four draws and six defeats, picking up 13 points from an available 39 in the league.

Notable home results for Tranmere include wins over Carlisle (2-0), Brighton (2-0), Bournemouth (3-1) and Huddersfield (3-0).


Double Hit:

Irish midfielder Jimmy Harvey, currently the manager of non-League side Forest Green Rovers, played for both Tranmere and Hereford during the 1980's.

Beginning his career in his native Ireland with Glenavon, Harvey moved to Arsenal as a 19 year old with plenty of talent in 1977.

However, he played just four games for the Premier League side, or Division One as it was then called, and in 1980 he moved to Hereford United.

Harvey became a legend whilst with the Bulls, as he made 278 league appearances for the club, many of them coming in the football league, and he was famed for his strong tackles in front of the defence.

After falling out of favour with the club, he had brief spells with Wrexham (loan) and Bristol City before moving to Tranmere, then managed by John King, in 1987.

Harvey would become a key member of the successful Tranmere side that John King lead away from the basement division in English football and up to Division One (now the Coca-Cola Championship). He went on to make 121 appearances for the club, as well as gaining the captains arm band, whilst at the club, before leaving for Crewe, Southport, Chester and then later Morecambe, where he ended his playing career.

Harvey remained at Morecambe for 12 years, as he became the club manager and had success whilst with the club, leading them to the conference in 1996.

However, after a heart attack in 2006, Harvey was sacked by the club following the success of caretaker manager Sammy McIlroy.

He was soon appointed manager of Forest Green Rovers, for whom he has signed former Tranmere player Oliver James and the free-scoring and much sort after striker Stuart Fleetwood.

One To Watch: Trevor Benjamin

Well travelled striker Trevor Benjamin has hit good form this season for Hereford, as the Kettering born striker has netted ten goals for the club this season.

Benjamin started his career with Cambridge United, for whom he played for five years. He scored 46 goals for Cambridge, before moving on to the likes of Leicester City, Crystal Palace, Norwich City, West Brom and Coventry.

In his career, Benjamin has played for 16 different clubs, scoring for all but one of them (Boston). However, out of those 16 clubs, he has played for eleven of them on loan.

The 6'02 tall Hereford number 12 has played 398 games in his career so far, scoring a total of 95 goals in the process.

He joined Hereford on a free transfer from Peterborough United in the summer. So far this season, he has scored ten goals for the club in 29 games, including one strike against Tranmere in the cup.

Benjamin scores most of his goals through headers, and is a player very much in the Gareth Taylor mould. He wins a lot of balls in the air thanks to his great height and strength, all though he lacks pace when the ball is on the deck.


How They Got There:

This will be the fourth match that Tranmere Rovers have played in the competition so far this season, and the fifth match their opponents have played.

In the First Round of the competition, Hereford drew 0-0 at home to Leeds on Sky before beating the former League Champions 1-0 at Elland Road thanks to an early goal from Ainsworth.

Hereford then beat Hartlepool United, also of League One, 2-0 in the Second Round of the tournament, booking their place in the Third Round when they were drawn against Tranmere.

Tranmere reached the third round with two impressive away wins at League Two opposition. With over 1,000 fans travelling to both games thanks to the free coach travel offer from the club, Rovers first had to come from behind to beat Chesterfield 2-1 at Saltergate, before two goals from Greenacre and a strike from Steven Jennings earned Tranmere a 3-0 win away at Bradford.

On January 5th, Tranmere and Hereford met at Prenton Park in the Third Round of the F.A. Cup, but a 2-2 draw ensured that there would be a replay at Edgar Street this week.


The F.A. Cup:

There are a number of exiciting F.A. Cup replays this week, with a number of lower league teams looking to get one over on their opponents.

Starting with the games on Tuesday, and there have already been two replays postponed due to the never ending rain, Barnet vs. Swindon and Sheffield Wednesday vs. Derby County.

Six fixtures are still squedualled to be played tonight, including the important match at Anfield between Liverpool and cash-strapped League One club Luton. The Hatters will be gaining some key cash tonight for the gate reciepts for the match, however, with a number of players refusing to play due to impending transfers, the chances of Luton winning, that were already ridiculously low, have fallen further still.

Walsall play Millwall with a fourth round tie away to Preston on offer for the winner of that game, whilst the winner of Bury vs. Norwich, a game which could realistically see an upset, will play Southampton.

On Wednesday, there are a further four fixtures, including non-league side Havant and Waterlooville playing a home game against Swansea, with a fourth round tie against Luton, or most likely Liverpool, away the prize.

The winner of Newcastle vs. Stoke will play Arsenal away, whilst there is an all Premiership tie at Eastlands, where Manchester City take on West Ham, with the winner taking on Sheffield United in the next round, who knocked out Bolton at Brammall Lane in their last F.A. Cup match.

Team News:

Tranmere captain Ian Goodison is suspended for the fourth game in a four match ban whilst Rovers are once again without wingers Chris Shuker and Steve Davies who are out for the season with knee-ligament damage. Shane Sherriff returns from a one match ban whilst otherwise Rovers have no other injury worries.


Jones' Prediction: Hereford United 1-2 Tranmere Rovers

This won't be easy for Tranmere. Hereford are a good side, without doubt and are flying high in Coca-Cola League Two and shouldn't be underestimated.

Tranmere will once again struggle to get goals without Shuker and Davies, but Myrie-Williams has been sending in some great crosses of late and it can't be too long before he gets an assist.

Without Goodison in defence, Tranmere have been conceeding goals for fun. Again, the skipper is missing but hopefully Rovers can keep a clean sheet and the defence can return to the kind of form it was in a month ago.

However, Rovers have been great on their travels in the F.A. Cup this season. Thanks to the clubs offer of free coaches, Tranmere will once again have a large and load Super White Army behind them, and hopefully this "Twelfth Man" can help them through to the next round of the cup.