HEREFORD FC fell to their first defeat of the season as Micheal Liddle's strike earned Blyth Spartans a 2-1 win at a windswept Croft Park.

Conditions up in the northeast played a significant part resulting in the opening 25 minutes being relatively quiet, with Adam Livingstone coming the closest to breaking the deadlock as both teams struggled to gain significant control of the ball in the swirling wind.

Blyth manager Graham Fenton made an early change after just 28 minutes with Charlie Aitken coming on for JJ Hooper, and it was the substitute who opened the scoring, firing through a melee of bodies after a corner caused confusion amongst the Hereford defence.

It didn't take long for the Bulls to respond though as Jason Cowley, returning to the starting line up in place of Stanley Obinna, isolated Micheal Liddle and bent the ball into the bottom right-hand corner from the edge of the area in the 41st minute.

Cowley did not return for the second half, however, with Koby Arthur taking his place alongside Adam Rooney up front as Blyth exerted some early pressure.

The Spartans regained a 53rd minute lead when some neat football Micheal Liddle fired emphatically into the bottom left-hand corner of Curtis Pond’s net, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance.

Liddle nearly added a second to his goal tally, but this time it was at his own end after a Hereford corner deflected off the Blyth full back and struck the right-hand post.

The best chance for Hereford came in the 90th minute as a Connor Stanley cross found the returning Lassana Mendes who, under pressure, poked the ball goalwards.

However, a good reaction save from keeper Alex Mitchell prevented the Bulls from taking a point back down south with them.

Hereford: Pond, Skinner, Livingstone (Stanley 60), Teixeira, Babos, Cowley (Arthur 46), Cranston, Mendes, Rooney (Hewlett 65), Cameron, Howkins

 

Unused subs: Singh, Southern