It was a bitter pill to swallow for Southport as Hereford came from behind with two Kelsey Mooney injury-time goals to draw 2-2.
The first incident of the game came in the 2nd minute as a clash of heads between Zehn Mohammed and Kyle Finn saw both players substituted off and sent directly to hospital with suspected concussions.
Port thought they had taken the lead in the 11th minute as Jack Sampson controlled the ball well inside the box from a deep free-kick before turning and putting the ball into his net but the striker had strayed beyond the last man and the assistant raised his flag for offside.
Hereford had their first chance of the game four minutes later as Bradley Ash capitalised on a missed clearance by Dean Winnard but the winger failed to hit the shot cleaned as it rolled harmlessly to Dan Hanford.
Hereford came close again in the 25th minute as Tommy O’Sullivan drilled a shot wide from 25-yards.
Port had a great chance to take the lead in the 38th minute as George Newell’s header was parried into the path of Reagan Ogle but the wing-backs rebound was blocked by the backtracking Hereford defenders.
But the visitors would eventually find that lead in the 43rd minute as Port capitalised on the advantage played after Morgan was fouled on the edge of the area. After the foul, the ball fell to Newell who finished superbly off the inside of the post to make it five goals in five appearances for the striker since he returned from a loan move at Marine.
But the goal before the break had got Hereford tails up and they looked reinvigorated in the second half, Owen-Evans putting a shot wide from distance in the 48th minute was a warning shot.
They came even closer in the 56th minute as Pope’s header rattled the post but had he scored it would not have counted anyway as he was adjudged to have strayed offside.
Hereford were reduced to ten men in the 83rd minute as he was sent off for a stamp to the chest of Port striker Sampson. Sammo and Hereford keeper Brandon Hall were booked for their reactions after the challenge.
The Port players must have felt they had won it in the 86th minute as they made the one-man advantage pay. Reagan Ogle made a superb run down the left after a through ball by Jack Dunn, before cutting back for Sampson who swept the ball home!
But it’s often said that losing a man can light a spark under a team and that was certainly the case for the hosts. Hereford pulled one back in the 90th minute as the ball was turned in by Kelsey Mooney after a scramble in the box.
The comeback was completed two minutes later as Mooney bagged an almost identical goal as he scrambled a corner over the line.
Hereford: Hall, Hodgkiss ©, Pope, Jagger Cane, Anderson, Cullinane-Liburd, Finn (Bray 8’), Owen-Evans, John-Lewis, O’Sullivan (Mooney 80’), Ash (Liburd 66’)
Unused Subs: Riley, Thomas
Southport: Hanford, Mohammed (Woods 8’(Parry 89’)), Doyle, Winnard, Astles, Morgan ©, Benjamin, Oliver, Newell (Dunn 81’), Sampson, Ogle
Unused Subs: Albinson, Bauress
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