Hereford United gained revenge on Oldham Athletic for their 4-0 drubbing at Boundary Park with an excellent 5-0 home win over The Latics. The Bulls came out of the traps immediately with Steve Guinan heading in before he tapped in a second. Lionel Ainsworth smashed in a third from close-range before Guinan completed his hattrick with a neat close-range finish. In the second-half, Ainsworth put the icing on the cake with a cool finish in front of 3342 at Edgar Street, including 703 following the visitors.
After nearly three weeks without a game since the visit to Leicester, Graham Turner had plenty of time to think of his selection and opted to bring in Sam Hewson and Andy Williams at the expense of Ben Smith and Nick Chadwick, who departed Edgar Street last week. Oldham, flying high in third place and unbeaten in ten before today's encounter, started with a wealth of experience up front in Dean Windass and Lee Hughes whilst the highly-rated winger Chris Taylor started.
The first attacking opportunity of the afternoon resulted in the opening goal. Matty Done took a long-throw from the left and Guinan's flick header ended up in the back of the net after some hesitation from Latics' 'keeper Greg Fleming. The visitors came close to levelling immediately after a strong run down the right from Deane Smalley saw the youngster cut-back for Windass who struck first-time against the outside of the post. Williams tried his luck on two occasions but couldn't find the goal he is so badly seeking; a 50 yard half-volley dipped over whilst a flick from Guinan was well controlled by the Bristol Rovers loanee but he struck just past the post. Hereford doubled their advantage with Williams involved in the build-up; his neat flick allowed Ainsworth to race against Oldham's left-back Kelvin Lomax in a non-competition and Ainsworth sprinted clear down the right and into the box before picking out Guinan with a low-cross and the striker tapped in with his left-foot.
Kris Taylor saw a half-volley fly past the far-post whilst moments later, another strike from K.Taylor was well-held by Fleming. At the other end, a rare Oldham attack saw Danny Whitaker shoot tamely from 20 yards into the body of Craig Samson. A pass from Smalley allowed Hughes to test Karl Broadhurst, turning the defender before seeing a shot be claimed by Samson. United made it three just shy of the half-hour mark when Ainsworth grabbed his second of the season. It all started with Richard Rose winning a key-tackle inside his own box before Hereford played their way up the field with Williams finding himself with the ball out wide; he crossed towards the back-post where Guinan rose above the defence but his header hit the bar. Luckily for The Bulls, Ainsworth was on hand to take one touch before firing powerfully home from close-range.
Windass dragged a long-shot well wide for Oldham before Hewson nearly marked his professional debut with a goal. Williams beat the offside trap before some neat-trickery on the left allowed him the chance to pick out the well-timed run of Hewson who headed inches past the post. The fourth of the afternoon came four minutes before half-time with Guinan grabbing his hattrick. Hereford worked-hard to win the ball back in the Oldham half and Toumani Diagouraga's pass released Ainsworth down the right. The Watford loanee grabbed his second assist by placing the ball on a plate for Guinan, who had got in front of his defender and neatly finished past the 'helpless Fleming. Guinan could have had a fourth but for an excellent defensive block to deny his placed shot following good-work from Williams to set him up. As half-time loomed, Oldham nearly pulled one back after C. Taylor had beaten Rose with ease on the left but his right-footed shot fell agonisingly past the far-post.
There is no doubt that John Sheridan would have been fuming at half-time and he opted to change his team about; Mark Allot and Craig Davies replaced Kevin Maher and Whitaker. The visitors, with the wind on their side this half, started the half with attacking intent and Windass's turn and shot was saved by Samson. A well-timed through ball saw Smalley break the offside trap but he couldn't beat Samson from an angle, after the Scottish 'keeper had done well to close down the shot. A deep cross from Neil Eardley was headed wide by Hughes whilst Davies selfishly struck wide from a tight-angle after a good switch of play. The final goal of the afternoon was scored mid-way through the second-half with Ainsworth grabbing a brace. The ball broke loose in the middle of the park and Lomax looked to be comfortable when going for the ball but the sheer pace of Ainsworth saw him nick the ball of the former Man City youngster before racing clear to stroke the ball past Fleming and into the net.
Strong hold-up play from Guinan saw him set up strike-partner Williams but he failed to hit the target, whilst soon after Williams went one on one with Fleming after being released through the middle but he showed signs of a lack of confidence in front of goal as he attempted to take the ball around Fleming but was unsuccessful. C. Taylor's superb 25 yard right-foot curling shot fell just past Samson's post whilst an excellent flick from Williams saw Guinan hit a volley wide. Samson was called on to make a number of routine saves as the game drew to a close, firstly parrying out a low shot from Smalley before holding on to efforts from long-range efforts from both Windass and C. Taylor. Hereford saw the game out comfortably, with Turner introducing Smith and Sam Gwynne late on in place of Hewson and Done whilst there was still time for a streaker on the pitch who ran nearly the length of the pitch before finally being tackled by stewards!
The Bulls ran riot this afternoon with their finest performance of the season so far. The headlines will be grabbed, rightly so by Guinan and Ainsworth, both of whom were excellent. Turner will no doubt be looking to extend Ainsworth's loan for a third and final month. The whole team played really well too with Samson looking very solid in between the sticks. A mention also for the midfield partnership of Diagouraga and Hewson who complimented each other well; the Man Utd loanee wasn't spectacular, but went about his job superbly breaking up the play on a number of occasions. Next up for Hereford is a short journey to Walsall next Saturday; if United play anything like they did today then they have a fine chance of coming back with the points.
Hereford: Samson, Rose, Gowling, Broadhurst, K. Taylor, Ainsworth, Diagouraga, Hewson, Done, Guinan, Williams.
Subs: Veiga, Beckwith, Gwynne, Smith, Johnson.
Oldham: Fleming, Eardley, Hazell, Gregan, Lomax, Smalley, Maher, Whitaker, C. Taylor, Hughes, Windass.
Subs: Stam, Allot, Liddell, Alessandra, Davies.