Five goals and five points clear
Hereford United beat Northwich Victoria to remain at the top of the table tonight.
Five
goals and five points clear
Northwich
Victoria 1 - 5 Hereford United
An emphatic victory
over struggling Northwich Victoria sent Hereford United five
points clear at the top of the Conference.
Despite an awkward first half, United were ahead within four minutes, as David Brown found Danny Williams from the byline, and the ex-Chesterfield midfielder fired home from six yards out through the legs of Vics' goalkeeper Andy Woods.
Northwich, though, could have got back into it as the half progressed. Alvin McDonald's side pressured Matt Baker's goal, as Phil Brazier fired wide from outside the area and Val Owen missed a similar effort. At the other end, Steve Guinan struck over from the left channel with seven minutes of the half left.
Hereford regrouped at the break, and three minutes after the restart, Hereford doubled their advantage as David Brown notched his third goal of the season. Michael Rose struck from twenty-five yards, and the ball fell just beyond Brown, who was left with just the goalkeeper to beat.
While Hereford always looked likely to get more goals, United stopper Matt Baker was forced into an excellent save from Chris Ward, who smashed the ball from outside the box.
The third goal did come, though. Paul Parry beat a Northwich defender before providing a cross to Brown, who had his shot well saved by Woods. The ball, though, ran loose to Steve Guinan, who fired home from ten yards out.
The Vics got back into the game soon afterwards as Richard Norris struck from twenty yards out to beat Baker to his right.
However, any hope they had of a shock come-back were firmly extinguished with six minutes to go. United broke from a Northwich corner, and a good move ended in Parry, who nestled the ball in the bottom corner from ten yards.
Almost three minutes into added time, Hereford made it 5-1 when Ryan Green swung in a ball from the right, and Steve Guinan directed it home from the right edge of the area. The ball went across goal, and into the far corner.
Despite an awkward first half, United were ahead within four minutes, as David Brown found Danny Williams from the byline, and the ex-Chesterfield midfielder fired home from six yards out through the legs of Vics' goalkeeper Andy Woods.
Northwich, though, could have got back into it as the half progressed. Alvin McDonald's side pressured Matt Baker's goal, as Phil Brazier fired wide from outside the area and Val Owen missed a similar effort. At the other end, Steve Guinan struck over from the left channel with seven minutes of the half left.
Hereford regrouped at the break, and three minutes after the restart, Hereford doubled their advantage as David Brown notched his third goal of the season. Michael Rose struck from twenty-five yards, and the ball fell just beyond Brown, who was left with just the goalkeeper to beat.
While Hereford always looked likely to get more goals, United stopper Matt Baker was forced into an excellent save from Chris Ward, who smashed the ball from outside the box.
The third goal did come, though. Paul Parry beat a Northwich defender before providing a cross to Brown, who had his shot well saved by Woods. The ball, though, ran loose to Steve Guinan, who fired home from ten yards out.
The Vics got back into the game soon afterwards as Richard Norris struck from twenty yards out to beat Baker to his right.
However, any hope they had of a shock come-back were firmly extinguished with six minutes to go. United broke from a Northwich corner, and a good move ended in Parry, who nestled the ball in the bottom corner from ten yards.
Almost three minutes into added time, Hereford made it 5-1 when Ryan Green swung in a ball from the right, and Steve Guinan directed it home from the right edge of the area. The ball went across goal, and into the far corner.
Written by Brian
Goodwin - 7th October 2003.
| Northwich Victoria | Hereford United |
| Andy Woods | Matt Baker |
| Lee Woodyatt | Ryan Green |
| Phil Brazier | Michael Rose |
| Mark Foran | Jamie Pitman |
| Kieran Charnock | Tamika Mkandawire |
| Steve Garvey | Tony James (captain) |
| Val Owen (captain, off, 55 minutes) | Danny Williams |
| Mark Devlin (off, 61 minutes) | Ben Smith |
| Chris Blackburn | David Brown (off, 77 minutes) |
| Johnny Allan | Steve Guinan |
| Chris Ward (off, 67 minutes) | Paul Parry |
| Subs | Subs |
| Ben Connett | Ben Scott |
| Ryan Zico-Black (on, 61 minutes) | Richard Teesdale |
| Chris Thompson (on, 67 minutes) | Daniel Carey-Bertram (on, 77 minutes) |
| Richard Norris (on, 55 minutes) | Dean Craven |
| Chris Royle | Jordan King |
| Yellow cards | Yellow cards |
| Mark Devlin (unsporting behaviour, 45 minutes) | Ben Smith (dissent, 43 minutes) |
| Ryan Zico-Black (unsporting behaviour, 90 minutes) | - |
| Red cards | Red cards |
| - | - |
| Scorers | Scorers |
| Richard Norris (78 minutes) | Danny Williams (4 minutes) |
| - | David Brown (49 minutes) |
| - | Steve Guinan (76, 90 minutes) |
| - | Paul Parry (85 minutes) |
| - | - |
| Man of the Match | Paul Parry |
| Attendance | 1,008 |
| Referee | Mr. D. Drysdale (Bracebridge Heights) |