Continuing BN's look at games against teams now in the National North - there were lots of visits to Chester City whilst Hereford United were in the Conference - here's a game from Friday December 20th 2002.
Guinan makes it three
in a row
Chester
City 0 - 1 Hereford United
A late, late goal from Steve Guinan
ensured Hereford United collected all three points
against second placed Chester City this evening.
Guinan's strike sealed a good night for Hereford, in which they managed to soak up everything that Chester could throw at them.
Ryan Sugden, Chester's top scorer with twelve goals, was the brightest star in the Cestrians' team, but it was Hereford who almost took an early lead when John Grant headed a corner goalwards, only for Jon Brady to scoop off the line.
The first half was deadlocked to a great extent, with the defences on top and Chester having the best chances in a scrappy encounter.
In the second period, United attempted to break through against their hosts, but Chester continued to rain in long-range efforts which called Matt Baker into action on a couple of occasions, most notably from a long range shot from Scott Guyett. At the other end, Steve Guinan fired a low shot wide of the post whilst the former Chester defender, Michael Rose, was strong for Hereford, surging forward and also doing a capable job in his defensive role.
With fourteen minutes left, Chester looked to have the perfect opportunity to open the scoring. A Kevin McIntyre corner found substitute Mike Brown on the far post, but from six yards out, he headed the ball onto the post before it was hooked away by United.
Ben Davies went close for Chester with eight minutes to go, firing a low shot just wide from outside of the box, before Guinan found his way through to put Hereford into a eighty-seventh minute lead. Michael Rose threaded the ball over to Paul Parry, who found his way into the box before allowing Guinan the space to grab the late winner.
Guinan's strike sealed a good night for Hereford, in which they managed to soak up everything that Chester could throw at them.
Ryan Sugden, Chester's top scorer with twelve goals, was the brightest star in the Cestrians' team, but it was Hereford who almost took an early lead when John Grant headed a corner goalwards, only for Jon Brady to scoop off the line.
The first half was deadlocked to a great extent, with the defences on top and Chester having the best chances in a scrappy encounter.
In the second period, United attempted to break through against their hosts, but Chester continued to rain in long-range efforts which called Matt Baker into action on a couple of occasions, most notably from a long range shot from Scott Guyett. At the other end, Steve Guinan fired a low shot wide of the post whilst the former Chester defender, Michael Rose, was strong for Hereford, surging forward and also doing a capable job in his defensive role.
With fourteen minutes left, Chester looked to have the perfect opportunity to open the scoring. A Kevin McIntyre corner found substitute Mike Brown on the far post, but from six yards out, he headed the ball onto the post before it was hooked away by United.
Ben Davies went close for Chester with eight minutes to go, firing a low shot just wide from outside of the box, before Guinan found his way through to put Hereford into a eighty-seventh minute lead. Michael Rose threaded the ball over to Paul Parry, who found his way into the box before allowing Guinan the space to grab the late winner.
Written by Terry Goodwin - 20th December
2002.
| Chester City | Hereford United |
| Wayne Brown | Matt Baker |
| Scott Guyett | Matt Clarke |
| Phil Bolland | Michael Rose |
| Wayne Hatswell | Andrew Tretton |
| Kevin McIntyre (captain) | Ben Smith (off, 72 minutes) |
| Paul Carden | Tony James (captain) |
| Jon Brady (off, 64 minutes) | Jamie Pitman |
| Shaun Carey | Danny Williams |
| Ben Davies | Steve Guinan |
| Daryl Clare | John Grant |
| Ryan Sugden (off, 64 minutes) | Paul Parry (off, 89 minutes) |
| Subs | Subs |
| Jimmy Kelly | Ian Wright (on, 89 minutes) |
| Mike Brown (on, 64 minutes) | Ken Griffiths |
| Carl Ruffer | Richard Teesdale |
| Michael Twiss | Rob Purdie (on, 72minutes) |
| Dave Cameron (on, 64 minutes) | Rob Sawyers |
| Yellow cards | Yellow cards |
| Kevin McIntyre (unsporting behaviour, 17 minutes) | Ben Smith (foul, 38 minutes) |
| Daryl Clare (dissent, 88 minutes) | Andrew Tretton (foul, 89 minutes) |
| Red cards | Red cards |
| - | - |
| Scorers | Scorers |
| - | Steve Guinan (87 minutes) |
| Man of the Match | Andy Tretton |
| Attendance | 2507 |
| Referee | Mr. Matadar |