Bulls back to winning ways
Hereford United closed the gap on Chester with a convincing 5-2 win at Gravesend this afternoon.
Whites'
bombardment sinks Fleet
Gravesend
& Northfleet 2 - 5 Hereford United
Hereford United
left Stonefield Road with all three points this afternoon after
they defeated Gravesend & Northfleet 5-2. United were without
Jamie Pitman and Ryan Green for the clash due to hernia and hip
injuries respectively.
An action packed first half saw five goals, the first after four minutes was for the 'Fleet. A cross from the left wasn't succesfully cleared and the ball fell to Ben Abbey who volleyed in from an acute angle at the back post. Within a mintue the Bulls had equalised after 'keeper Paul Wilkerson felled Rob Purdie in the box. Tony James hammered the ball into the roof of the net from the spot.
Early in the game Graham Turner was forced to make a change when Ben Smith dislocated his shoulder, the same one that he dislocated shortly after his move to Hereford. Smith was seen leaving in an ambulance and has had an x-ray after the game. Smith is expected to miss the rest of the season. Richard Teesdale replaced Smith in the five-man midfield, with Anwar Uddin, Tony James and Andy Tretton making up a three-man back-line.
Hereford won a freekick when Smith was injured, which Michael Rose smashed against the post from twenty-five yards. The ball rebounded kindly to the impressive David Brown who volleyed home. There were many chances for both teams in an end to end half and it was no suprise when the fourth goal went in after twenty-two minutes. Teesdales pass found Brown who played a neat pass through to Steve Guinan and he made no mistake in slotting the ball past Wilkerson from inside the box to make it 3-1.
Abbey scored a second for Gravesend in the thirty-seventh minute putting a powerful shot through the legs of Matt Baker to give the home side a glimmer of hope. Hereford had a cast iron penalty turned down in the thirty-ninth minute when Rob Purdie, once again raced into the area, and was tripped by a defender, but the referee decided that Purdie had dived, and booked him.
A bright start to the sencond half saw Chris Palmer dribble into the area and hit a hard shot at Wilkerson, who parried the shot away. Guinan had another chance which landed on the roof of the net. Gravesend had a chance to get back on level terms in the sixty-third minute when Andy Drury slid in at the front post but knocked the ball wide following a counter attack down the right wing.
David Brown doubled his tally for the day in the sixty seventh minute when his low shot was wickedly deflected and rolled into the bottom left corner. Hereford searched for a fifth and two minutes after the fourth Guinan thought he had got it, but was deemed offside after a shot was palmed away by the goalie. Rose had a fourty-five yard shot hit the roof of the net when he spotted the 'keeper off his line. Gravesend didn't give up hope though, but a last ditch clearence by Anwar Uddin and a good tip over the bar from Baker kept United in front.
Hereford finally got their fifth of the afternoon in the eighty-nineth minute from Guinan. His twenty-first goal of the season was a simple tap in after Browns shot was blocked by a defender. The attendance of 1,230 was made up of around 150 away fans who went home delighted.
An action packed first half saw five goals, the first after four minutes was for the 'Fleet. A cross from the left wasn't succesfully cleared and the ball fell to Ben Abbey who volleyed in from an acute angle at the back post. Within a mintue the Bulls had equalised after 'keeper Paul Wilkerson felled Rob Purdie in the box. Tony James hammered the ball into the roof of the net from the spot.
Early in the game Graham Turner was forced to make a change when Ben Smith dislocated his shoulder, the same one that he dislocated shortly after his move to Hereford. Smith was seen leaving in an ambulance and has had an x-ray after the game. Smith is expected to miss the rest of the season. Richard Teesdale replaced Smith in the five-man midfield, with Anwar Uddin, Tony James and Andy Tretton making up a three-man back-line.
Hereford won a freekick when Smith was injured, which Michael Rose smashed against the post from twenty-five yards. The ball rebounded kindly to the impressive David Brown who volleyed home. There were many chances for both teams in an end to end half and it was no suprise when the fourth goal went in after twenty-two minutes. Teesdales pass found Brown who played a neat pass through to Steve Guinan and he made no mistake in slotting the ball past Wilkerson from inside the box to make it 3-1.
Abbey scored a second for Gravesend in the thirty-seventh minute putting a powerful shot through the legs of Matt Baker to give the home side a glimmer of hope. Hereford had a cast iron penalty turned down in the thirty-ninth minute when Rob Purdie, once again raced into the area, and was tripped by a defender, but the referee decided that Purdie had dived, and booked him.
A bright start to the sencond half saw Chris Palmer dribble into the area and hit a hard shot at Wilkerson, who parried the shot away. Guinan had another chance which landed on the roof of the net. Gravesend had a chance to get back on level terms in the sixty-third minute when Andy Drury slid in at the front post but knocked the ball wide following a counter attack down the right wing.
David Brown doubled his tally for the day in the sixty seventh minute when his low shot was wickedly deflected and rolled into the bottom left corner. Hereford searched for a fifth and two minutes after the fourth Guinan thought he had got it, but was deemed offside after a shot was palmed away by the goalie. Rose had a fourty-five yard shot hit the roof of the net when he spotted the 'keeper off his line. Gravesend didn't give up hope though, but a last ditch clearence by Anwar Uddin and a good tip over the bar from Baker kept United in front.
Hereford finally got their fifth of the afternoon in the eighty-nineth minute from Guinan. His twenty-first goal of the season was a simple tap in after Browns shot was blocked by a defender. The attendance of 1,230 was made up of around 150 away fans who went home delighted.
Written by Brian
Goodwin - 14th February 2004.
| Gravesend & Northfleet | Hereford United |
| Paul Wilkerson | Matt Baker |
| Lee Gledhill (off, 68 minutes) | Andy Tretton |
| Lee Shearer | Michael Rose |
| Chris Moore | Rob Purdie |
| Justin Skinner (captain) | Anwar Uddin |
| Andy Drury | Tony James (captain) |
| Lee Protheroe | Danny Williams |
| Steve Perkins (off, half time) | David Brown |
| Robert Owen | Ben Smith (off, 12 minutes) |
| Ben Abbey | Steve Guinan |
| Roy Essandoh | Chris Palmer |
| Subs | Subs |
| Francis Duku | Ben Scott |
| Rob Howarth (on, 68 minutes) | Richard Teesdale (on, 12 minutes) |
| Steve McKimm (on, half time) | Mark Beesley |
| James Pinnock | Daniel Carey-Bertram |
| Alex O'Reilly | Dean Craven |
| Yellow cards | Yellow cards |
| Paul Wilkerson (unsporting behaviour, 5 minutes) | David Brown (foul, 26 minutes) |
| Lee Gledhill (foul, 33 minutes) | Rob Purdie (diving, 39 minutes) |
| Adam Drury (unsporting behaviour, 45 minutes) | - |
| Steve McKimm (unsporting behaviour, 82 minutes) | - |
| Red cards | Red cards |
| - | - |
| Scorers | Scorers |
| Ben Abbey (4, 37 minutes) | Tony James (penalty, 5 minutes) |
| - | David Brown (13 minutes, 67 minutes) |
| - | Steve Guinan (22 minutes, 89 minutes) |
| - | - |
| Man of the Match | Rob Purdie |
| Attendance | 1,230 |
| Referee | Mr. P. Miller (Bedfordshire) |