It’s FA Trophy week! We go around the grounds
JOHN Mills once again showed why he is such an important player to Hereford as his hat-trick helped the Bulls cruise through to the next round of the Trophy.
Mills struck twice in the first half before sealing his treble 11 minutes from time.
“You look at his goal record – it’s absolutely frightening,” said Hereford manager Pete Beadle.
“He thoroughly deserved his man-of-the-match award; his goals were fantastic and his work rate was brilliant.”
However, despite Hereford’s comfortable triumph, Beadle felt his team rode their luck at times.
“In the first minute Martin Horsell had to make a fantastic stop then all of a sudden we found ourselves two goals to the good,” said Beadle.
“We didn’t seem to start particularly well and even in the second half, it goes out for a corner and you’ve got players not even looking at the ball and they get a goal and are back in the game.
“So maybe it wasn’t a 4-1 performance, but I think we did enough to be in front.”
After being denied by Horsell, Weymouth striker Harry Baker went close again in the 25th minute when his drilled effort hit the side netting.
Hereford then stepped up a gear and should have scored on the half-hour mark, however Lance Smith’s powerful header went just wide.
However, the Bulls did open the scoring five minutes later when Mills calmly slotted home before he added another goal three minutes later.
Weymouth pulled a goal back in the 54th minute when Jake McCarthy fired home from a corner, but the away side struggled to create many more opportunities. And they were made to pay when Hereford scored the killer third goal in the 69th minute.
Mark Travers did well to save Pablo Haysham’s shot, but Smith was on hand to gobble up the rebound.
Mills sealed the win ten minutes later, but Weymouth were unhappy with how it came about.
Referee Sarah Garratt allowed Hereford to take a quick free-kick and, with the Weymouth players caught napping, Mills ran at goal to calmly slot the ball home.
“We didn’t think we were helped by one or two of the decisions, especially for the fourth goal,” said Weymouth assistant manager Paul Maitland. “But it’s swings and roundabouts and you take it on the chin.
“They were slightly more professional in areas of the pitch and deserved to go through.”
STAR MAN: John Mills (Hereford) ENTERTAINMENT: ★★★★★