On this day seventeen years ago Hereford United were heading for the Conference play-offs. They were at home to Northwich Victoria, a game they were expected to win.
BN looks back firstly to manager Graham Turner's pre-match views, then the report and finally some reaction.
March 6th 2004:
Home form is vital
Home form is vital if Hereford United are to be in with a chance of
catching Chester in the Conference. With away form being so good, Graham
Turner has told the Evening News: "It would be nice to got a similar
run in our home form.
"That's been the biggest thing, getting back our confidence at Edgar Street but it won't be easy, despite Northwich's position.
"It's important we don't become paranoid about playing at home.
Recent defeats have left the players a little anxious about playing in
front of the home crowd but they've got to go out with the same
confidence that we do away from home."
Turning to the game itself, Turner added on BBC Hereford &
Worcester: "We don't think it will be an easy game but the message to
our players is just go out and play with the same sort of freedom that
we have shown in these games away from home.
"Some of the football has been incredible."
United made just one change to the side that won at Telford on Tuesday night with Simon Travis being swapped at right wing-back for Ryan Green. Travis played with a knock on Tuesday night as Green missed out through illness, but the Welshman had recovered in time for this encounter.
Northwich desperately needed the win, as did Hereford, but for different reasons. Shaun Teale's men lay bottom of the Conference and were nineteen points away from safety before kick-off, and it will take a huge revival for them to retain their Conference status.
Hereford probably had the better of the first half, but they were given a good game by Northwich. However, it was Michael Rose who drove over in the seventh minute when he picked up a flick-on from David Brown, and later in the half, Andy Tretton fed Steve Guinan, but his shot from ten yards out went wide of the far post. Michael Rose almost gave Hereford the lead on the half-hour mark when his shot form the left channel almost dipped under the crossbar too, but Andy Woods in the away side's goal caught the ball at the last possible moment.
At the other end, Matt Baker was forced into an excellent save from a Peter Wright shot with ten minutes of the half left, after he had already stopped a low shot from Steve Garvey.
United found the net five minutes into injury time, the extra minutes given as a result of Ryan Green and Gregor Rioch clashing heads early on. This meant the Rioch played the first half with a bandaged head, but he had come off the field when Hereford gained a late corner. Rob Purdie found Michael Rose short from the Hereford left, Rose crossed the ball to the far post, and Steve Guinan knocked the ball home at the far post. However, the offside flag was up and the score remained goalless at the break.
After the restart, Hereford dominated, restricting Northwich basically to counter-attacks. Michael Rose's corner forced a one-handed save out of the goalkeeper before Rob Purdie was pulled back in the box on fifty-six minutes. The referee immediately pointed to the spot, and Tony James' spot kick went straight down the middle and Andy Woods saved. The ball ran loose, and Guinan was unable to capitalise.
Ryan Green then tried his luck from range, but it was Northwich who forced a good save out of the opposing goalkeeper with twenty minutes left as Peter Wright's forceful shot was smothered by Baker.
With seven minutes left, the deadlock was finally broken. Michael Rose broke on the left channel, beating ex-Chester team-mate Lee Woodyatt in the process, before crossing the ball into the box. It was flicked on to Guinan at the far post, and his ball found the net as the Meadow End roared with excitement.
Hereford searched for a second, with Michael Rose's free kick nodded wide by Guinan's diving header. Mark Beesley also forced a late save out of the goalkeeper, before Tamika Mkandawire made a crucial move three minutes into injury time. Chris Thompson surged into the Hereford area, rounded Matt Baker, but Mkandawire hooked the ball off the line to keep United in front.
| Hereford United | Northwich Victoria |
| Matt Baker | Andy Woods |
| Ryan Green | Chris Royle |
| Michael Rose | Mark Foran |
| Jamie Pitman | Shaun Came |
| Tamika Mkandawire | Gregor Rioch |
| Tony James (captain) | Peter Wright |
| Andy Tretton | Mark Devlin (captain) |
| Scott Willis (off, 63 minutes) | Steve Garvey |
| Steve Guinan | Steven Nicholas (off, 71 minutes) |
| David Brown | Chris Ward (off, 83 minutes) |
| Rob Purdie | Chris Thompson |
| Subs | Subs |
| Tom Smith | Ben Connett |
| Ben Scott | Shaun Teale |
| Mark Beesley (on, 63 minutes) | Richard Norris (on, 83 minutes) |
| Jordan King | Lee Woodyatt (on, 71 minutes) |
| Daniel Carey-Bertram | Phil Brazier |
| Yellow cards | Yellow cards |
| Jamie Pitman (foul, 40 minutes) | Gregor Rioch (foul, 12 minutes) |
| Scott Willis (foul, 60 minutes) | Chris Ward (foul, 71 minutes) |
| Red cards | Red cards |
| - | - |
| Scorers | Scorers |
| Steve Guinan (83 minutes) | - |
| - | - |
| Man of the Match | Tony James |
| Attendance | 3,064 |
| Referee | Mr. P. Gibbs (West Midlands) |
Bicycle kick was so important
Tamika
Mkandawire was the hero of the Hereford squad this afternoon when he
managed to clear a Northwich shot off the line in the dying minutes of
the game. With Baker beaten, Mkandawire cleared with a bicycle kick.
Later, speaking on BBC Hereford and Worcester, he thought that
Northwich had been hard to break down. "The more it went on the harder
it got to break them down. They obviously sat back."
Manager Graham Turner was eager to praise his defence after the
match too. "It just goes to show the benefit of keeping a clean sheet,"
he said. "We eventually managed to wear them down and had always
looked like doing it but it was a great clearance by Tamika off the line
at the end."
Of his crucial clearance, Mkandawire recalled: "I had to do it.
There was no other way of getting off the line. I had to get it off
there. They came with a game plan, getting men behind the ball. They
went to one up-front later in the first half and that made it difficult
for us to break things down. The fans have just got to be patient. We
can't win every game 9-0."
Asked about his time at Edgar Street, Mkandawire added: "It's good. They are a good set of lads. Fans have been great.
"It's a chance for me to play first-team football and I'm enjoying
really well. It's a much better standard than I thought it would be."
Mkandawire is suspended for the next home game, which is against
Accrington Stanley next Saturday. He received a yellow card when the
Bulls visited Dagenham last Friday week. He said: "I'm disappointed to
miss that one."