Although an army of fans rallied to help clear snow from Hereford FC’s pitch last Tuesday, so that their vital replay game against Fleetwood could go ahead, the Bulls hopes were dashed when their run in the Emirates FA Cup came to an end after a 2-0 defeat on Thursday, December 14th. There were 4,235 fans in attendance, 140 in the away end for Fleetwood.

League One side Fleetwood Town FC scored once in each half, despite plenty of effort from the Bulls.

The Bulls suffered a massive setback when Fleetwood took an early lead, as Captain Cian Bolger headed in from a corner to give Fleetwood the lead inside 10 minutes.

The Bulls started the second half as the much better side and looked the most likely to score. They had Fleetwood pinned back and the League One side were misplacing passes and looking unsettled, but then Cian Bolger doubled the visitor’s lead with a free header from another corner.

Calvin Dinsley came close to scoring for Hereford, but his two attempts from 20 yards flew high and wide. John Mills also shaved the post with a free kick from the edge of the penalty area.

The visitors were close to extending their lead when Leeds United loanee Lewie Coyle clipped the bar with a curling effort.

The Bulls will likely look back on this game with much regret as there wasn’t much to separate the two sides – apart from two identical corner kicks.

Bolger, the tallest player on the pitch, was given so much space on two occasions, and this will make the defeat a tough one to swallow for Hereford fans.

Fleetwood Town will now host Premier League Leicester City in the FA Cup third round.

Fleetwood thanked Hereford FC on Twitter: “The final word of the night goes to our opponents, Hereford FC. A huge thank you to their supporters for getting the game on, and being great hosts.

“Best of luck for the rest of the season!”