Bulls win 3-1
Hereford United have won today's crucial match against Margate by three goals to one.
Star-man
Purdie seals United victory
Margate
1 - 3 Hereford United
As the rain poured
down, the wind blew fiercely and the pitch badly cut-up at the
Hoverspeed Stadium, Hereford United put in a professional
performance to beat mid-table Margate 3-1 and close the gap at
the top of the Nationwide Conference.
The Bulls' victory was helped as Barnet held Chester to a
goalless draw on their own soil, but it took a gutsy showing to
overcome a resiliant Margate side.
However, it was not so much Margate but the conditions that
prevented Hereford from playing their normal open, flowing game.
However, Rob Purdie, particularly in the first half, did well to
open up the flanks for Hereford and the team as a whole will be
delighted with this outcome.
The first half saw relatively few openings for either side.
Purdie and Ryan Green both had chances to gain the upper hand,
but headers eluded them in from of goal, before Hereford took the
lead just after the half-hour mark. A flick forward from the
United defence was picked up by Purdie, who raced up the left
channel before knocking over a pin-point cross to Steve Guinan.
The ex-Cambridge United man nodded the ball down, and over the
line, leading the goalkeeper Phil Smith with no chance.
Two minutes later, Purdie broke again, beating defender Bill
Edwards but he was foiled by Smith in the area.
At the other end, Rocky Baptiste had Margate's best effort, when
his quick one-two resulted in a shot that went inches wide of
Matt Baker's far post after the home side had cut through the
Hereford defence.
In added time at the end of the first period, United doubled
their advantage. Michael Rose was about to swing over a cross
from the left, but cut back to Simon Willis. The on-loan Lincoln
City midfielder drove a low ball into the net from all of
twenty-five yards to score his first league goal for United.
After the restart, things evened up somewhat, as Rocky Baptiste
and Jean-Michel Sigere linked well in the Margate front-line, and
all of the notable chances for the home side came from this
partnership. However, Hereford were threatening at the other end
too, as a Guinan header was tipped over by Smith while another
shot bounced off the post. Willis forced Smith into a low save
later on as well.
Nevertheless, four minutes from time, United put the outcome
beyond doubt when Guinan fed the ball to Brown in the area. The
ex-Telford man thought three men were too many to beat, so
quickly passed to the unmarked Purdie, who fired home at the far
post.
There was still time for a Margate revival, though. First,
Baptiste's shot bounced in off the post with two minutes to go,
and in added time, a Baptiste cross was sent into the net by Sam
Sodje. Alas, the Margate man was offside and the goal disallowed.
Written by Terry
Goodwin - 20th March 2004.
Margate |
Hereford
United |
Phil Smith |
Matt Baker |
Greg Oates |
Ryan Green |
Adrian Clarke |
Michael Rose |
Graham Porter (captain) |
Tamika Mkandawire |
Sam Sodje |
Andy Tretton |
Darren Annon |
Tony James (captain) |
Jake Leberl |
Scott Willis (off, 71 minutes) |
Bill Edwards |
David Brown |
Rocky Baptiste |
Jamie Pitman |
Jean-Michel Sigere (off, 79 minutes) |
Steve Guinan |
Jay Saunders |
Rob Purdie |
Subs |
Subs |
Che Stadhart |
Ben Scott |
Moses Jjunju (on, 79 minutes) |
Simon Travis |
Jonathan Venter |
Danny Williams (on, 71 minutes) |
Darren Watson |
Tom Smith |
Paul Abbott |
Daniel Carey-Bertram |
Yellow cards |
Yellow cards |
- |
- |
Red cards |
Red cards |
- |
- |
Scorers |
Scorers |
Rocky Baptiste (89 minutes) |
Steve Guinan (32 minutes) |
- |
Scott Willis (45
minutes) |
- |
Rob Purdie (86 minutes) |
- |
- |
Man of the Match |
Rob Purdie |
Attendance |
604 |
Referee |
Mr. F. Graham (Esse |