Hereford FC's Rob Purdie played at Kettering for Hereford United in September 2002.
At the time both teams were in the Conference. Here's a look back to Tuesday September 24 2002:
Late, late goal seals lucky win
Kettering Town 2 - 3 Hereford United
Most of the drama came in the last five minutes as Hereford United came from behind to beat Kettering Town 3-2 at Rockingham Road.
The Bulls, unchanged from Saturday's 2-0 win at Stevenage Borough, went behind against the side at the bottom of the Conference thanks to a soft second-minute goal. Andy Tretton had nodded out a deep free-kick and Carl Shutt swung the ball over from the right for Niall Inman to tap in from close range.
It took a bit of time for the Bulls to get going as Tretton almost let Shutt through once again, but United stopper Matt Baker collected the ball before John Grant appeared to be fouled in the area at the other end, although the referee gave a corner kick. With twelve minutes on the clock, Ian Wright flicked a Michael Rose cross over the top before the left-wing-back was fouled inside the area by Wayne Duik after seventeen minutes. The referee had little choice but to give the spot kick, and so James himself stepped up and fired the ball at Poppies' goalkeeper Ian Bowling. However, Bowling just pushed the ball back into James' path, and the Welshman got his head onto it and equalised for the Bulls.
Then United took control, and should have been in-front at the break. Steve Guinan wasted an opening from the left, Michael Rose fired over from thirty yards out, Danny Williams' effort was spilled by the goalkeeper and Paul Parry narrowly missed the target when he nodded over a ball flicked on by Tretton, who had early picked up a yellow card along with Kettering's Scott Goodwin after the two clashed on the half hour.
Grant was replaced by Rob Purdie in the interval because the striker had felt his calf in the opening period, so for the second half Paul Parry pushed into attack and from kick-off, Parry tested the goalkeeper who pushed away the ball but eventually recovered. Ian Wright headed a corner clear at the other end as the home crowd protested for a penalty before a twenty five yard effort from Michael Rose tested Bowling at the other end.
Brad Piercewright attempted to break through the Hereford defence on fifty four minutes, but his effort was restricted before United went into the lead on the hour. A Steve Guinan cross from the right was coolly turned into the net by Wayne Duik from twelve yards out! The conversion will go down as one of the best own-goals that will be seen anywhere in the Conference this season.
Kettering were then on the back foot - and looking for the equaliser. A poor Rob Purdie back-pass on sixty-nine almost let substitute Dale Watkins through but Tony James intercepted, and with seventeen minutes left Steve Guinan could have made it safe but he fired a Danny Williams corner wide of the near post.
Then came what United had been dreading. They had failed to capitalise on earlier chances and with five minutes left, a cross from the left reached Richard Butcher on the far post, and the youth player headed home to level the scores once again.
There was more drama, though. Two minutes into injury time, United captain Ian Wright, out of position, crossed from the left for Steve Guinan to direct a downward header over the line, and Danny Williams scooped the ball off the line at the finale to keep Hereford in the ascendancy.
A drama-packed, incident-packed match saw Hereford United come home with the points, but Kettering look to be in a false position at the bottom of the league.
Written by Terry Goodwin - 24th September 2002.
Kettering Town Hereford United
Ian Bowling Matt Baker
Wayne Duik Matt Clarke
Bryan Small (off, 81 mins) Michael Rose
Chris Perkins Andrew Tretton
Martin Matthews (captain) Ian Wright (captain)
Brad Piercewright Tony James
Danny Walsh Jamie Pitman
Scott Goodwin Danny Williams
Shaun Murray (off, 28 mins) Steve Guinan
Carl Shutt (off, 67 mins) John Grant (off, half time)
Niall Inman Paul Parry
Subs:
Simon Ward Scott Voice
Richard Butcher (on, 28 mins) Richard Teesdale
Garry Hughes Rob Sawyers
Dale Watkins (on, 67 mins) Rob Purdie (on, half time)
Michael McKenzie (on, 81 mins) James Fox
Yellow cards
Scott Goodwin (30 mins, foul) Andy Tretton (30 mins, foul)
Scorers:
Niall Inman (2 mins) Tony James (17 mins)
Richard Butcher (85 mins) Wayne Duik (own goal, 60 mins)
Steve Guinan (90 mins)
Man of the Match Steve Guinan
Attendance 1434
Referee Mr. A. Marriner
Guinan jubliant after last minute winner
Kettering Town manager Carl Shutt was disappointed with his side's 3-2 defeat to Hereford United last night. "We seem to be punished for every mistake we make, but then again we're still making the same errors," he said.
For Hereford, a jubilant Steve Guinan told the Evening News: "I was delighted with my goal and it was an excellent left-footed cross from Ian Wright. Although we conceded an early goal, we always thought that we could score ourselves.
Ian Wright, interviewed by BBC Hereford & Worcester, commented: "We knew it would be tough.We came here confident and I think we deserved the win." He thought that the injury to John Grant was not serious and so he should be available for Saturday's game against Scarborough.
Ex Bulls player Scott Goodwin was profiled in the Kettering programme. He said: "I was very disappointed to leave Edgar Street. The fans at Hereford were superb as was everything else about the club but it was just the money side of it really. The circumstances were such that it was just time to get away. I live in Coventry and Hereford was full time and it was quite a trek, which took its toll as well."
He is part time with Kettering and appears to be looking for an extra job, probably in coaching, which he has done in the past for Coventry City at their Academy.
One sad note, a small child with the Hereford fans was hit by a missile apparantly thrown by a Kettering follower. The incident occurred at full-time and luckily St Johns Ambulance personnel were on hand to assist. The child looked to have a cut on the head. The United support totalled around 180.