Hereford United 0 Oxford United 1

Reading one of the Sunday papers, I saw one of my colleagues had written that Robbie Hall was the best player on the pitch. Well, with due respect to both Robbie and the journalist concerned, I’d have to say that, for me, that accolade really should go to Liam Davis the left back whose mazy run and cross led to Hall’s 32nd minute winner.

Each time I have seen Davis this season he has been exceptional and while Robbie is the man of the moment and will understandably get all of the headlines after his second goal in four senior outings, I think that Davis deserves a special mention as well.

His work rate and no little amount of skill are suited to a level higher than League Two and if he and his team mates continue putting in solid away performances like this one, they won’t be too far off come the end of the season.

But as I say, Robbie Hall’s header won the points for Oxford and so he also merits a great deal of praise and if any West Ham fans are reading this, they’ll be chuffed to know that they have a young lad on their books who has a good amount of skill and is a grafter.

Talking to Hall after the game I was impressed with the young (he’ll be 18 years old later this month) man’s attitude off the pitch. He talked a great deal about learning from senior pros at Oxford such as Michael Duberry and Paul McLaren and how much time they have given to him to help him improve.

My piece in the paper this morning was a typical ‘fun’ slant on what was said, but the fact that he is expected to do his chores and respect his parents’ wishes spoke volumes about his family.

My clipping in this morning’s paper

Hall is also due credit though because, despite his years, he can see the difference between the pampered life of a rising football star and the real world. It appeared to me that he has his head screwed on and really didn’t seem to be the type who was going to get carried away by either fan or media adoration.

He knows there’s a long way to go and even if he did get above himself, I suspect his mum would give him a metaphorical clip round the ear – or maybe even an actual one.

Sadly, there are a few young players who think that they’ve made it once they’ve reached the fringes of the first team. I would put money on Robbie Hall not being one of them. If he continues to work hard on the pitch and training ground as he has done so far and then combines this with his the natural intelligence and pleasantness I saw on Saturday, he’ll do okay and continue to make his parents proud.

I felt that Oxford deserved to win this game, although Hereford didn’t sit back and play for the draw as I thought they would. In fact they had some very good attempts on goal and an equalizer would have been a fair reward for their effort.

Unfortunately though I have the feeling that things are conspiring against Bulls manager Jamie Pitman and unless he gets a decent slice of luck very soon, he may be on his way.

There were a few jeers at the end of the game, but I think that most fair minded fans saw a side that were certainly showing some spirit.