On April 7th 2001 Hereford United were dumped out of the FA Trophy by Forest Green Rovers.
HEREFORD UNITED 1 - 4 FOREST GREEN ROVERS
FA Umbro Trophy Semi Final Second Leg.
Forest Green Rovers win 6-3 on aggregate.
Yet another disappointing home performance by Hereford United resulted
in their elimination from the FA Trophy at the semi final stage in
humiliating fashion. As favourites for the tournament, they were
expected to overcome Forest Green Rovers but instead were demolished by
the Gloucestershire side by four goals to one.
Hereford went into the tie as favourites and welcomed back young winger
Jimmy Quiggin in place of the suspended Ian Rodgerson. Otherwise, the
team was identical to that which gained a draw in the first leg last
Saturday. Rovers' striker Frankie Bennett was recalled to the starting
line-up after he turned the first leg around with a substitute
appearance and Rovers' first goal. Nathan Goodbody failed a fitness test
but winger Stuart Slater recovered from injury. Striker Jason Eaton and
midfielders Alex Sykes and Mark Cooper were all cup-tied and Darren
Middleton was ineligible for the match.
It's not often that Hereford lose by such a horrifying margin at Edgar
Street, in fact the last time that they lost in such humiliating fashion
came in the Auto Windscreens Shield first round, a 4-0 defeat against
Millwall in 1996. However, most fans will feel that Forest Green didn't
deserve to win by such a large margin but they proved that, on their
day, they are capable of turning over any side in the Conference.
Hereford were on-top from the start and pressurised the Forest Green
goal. Rovers' goalkeeper Steve Perrin was in good form and it appeared
that this, combined with bad luck for the Bulls, meant they couldn't get
the ball to hit the back of the net in the first half. Their first move
of the match resulted in a long ball from captain Ian Wright causing
problems for Rovers, before Gavin Williams had the ball snatched away
from his feet by Rob Cousins.
Further early efforts from Ian Wright, a long range strike, and Phil
Robinson were saved well by the goalkeeper and, with too many players
attacking, the defence was left open. A counter attack on fourteen
minutes resulted in a goal for the away side from Frankie Bennett. A
twenty yard effort was Rovers' first attack on target and Cooksey was
left stranded. The noisy Hereford end were silenced by Rovers' lead.
Jimmy Quiggin made another chance for United, but Perrin turned the
effort around the post. The Hereford attack were turning up the
pressure, but Phil Robinson had his shot cleared off the line before
Robin Elmes' shot was deflected wide at the Meadow End. Another rare
Forest Green attack saw Adrian Foster hit the post, and Alex Meecham was
on hand to double the score from close range on twenty eight minutes,
blasting the ball into the top of Cooksey's net.
Phil Robinson went close but Perrin saved well, and Rovers' had taken
their chances whereas Hereford let theirs go to waste as the away side
registered a 2-0 half time lead. Forest Green were second best for the
whole of the half as Hereford had the best of the play and the
possession. Graham Turner must have been fuming and he won't have got
much happier with the second half performance.
The second half continued in the same fashion, with the Bulls on top but
Rovers grabbing another goal. The away side had almost everyone behind
the ball as they desperately defended their lead, but against the run of
play gained a third goal. On the hour, Chris Burns made the score
Hereford United 0 Forest Green Rovers 3 when his close-range header was
conceded by Cooksey, who was helpless to do anything. Hereford responded
and finally gained a deserved goal through captain Ian Wright three
minutes later. A corner was floated in and Wright managed to get the
vital textbook touch to flick a glimmer of hope into the Hereford cause.
Steve Bull was introduced a couple of minutes later for Paul Parry in an
effort to add to United's attacking push, but his and Rob Elmes' lack
of pace resulted in a frustating afternoon. Bull looked tired and Elmes
was marked out of the game, probably as a result of the two goals scored
against Rovers last Saturday. Gavin Williams looked off form, and was
unable to break free as Rovers' tight defence let nothing get past them.
However, United continued in their push but shots were few and far
between.
Shock hit the Hereford fans with ten minutes left when former Bulls
striker Adrian Foster made it 4-1 with a close range effort. He had
missed a couple of sitters in the afternoon but made up by hammering the
final nail into the coffin of Hereford United's season. Rovers will
face Canvey Island in th final of the competition, their second
appearance in three years after playing at Wembley in 1999.
Referee Mr. D. Pugh made four bookings for fouls; Stuart Slater, Ian
Wright, John Snape and Billy Clark, and also cautioned Matt Clarke and
Adrian Foster for a bust up ten minutes into the second half. The final
result reveals a problem in the Hereford United camp - getting the ball
into the net, and the majority of the 4,175 watching the game left
disappointed. There were tears in the Meadow End and on the face of
Scott Cooksey as cup dreams died for yet another season.
Hereford - Cooksey, Clarke, Wright, James, Sturgess, Quiggin, Snape, Robinson, Elmes, Williams, Parry
Substitutions - Bull (64).
Man of the Match - Ian Wright.
Captain Ian Wright spoke of his dismay at Hereford United's 4-1 defeat
at home against Forest Green Rovers in the FA Trophy semi-final second
leg this afternoon. Talking to the BBC, he said: "The lads are
absolutely gutted. We thought we could win it comfortably. We had some
good chances, especially from set pieces, we could have been in front
quite easily."
On Steve Perrin, the Rovers goalkeeper, Wright commented: "He made some
good saves and got some good blocks in the penalty area so he kept them
in it. We created a lot of chances so you can't blame the pitch for
that. We're naturally disappointed we've lost by four."
Tony James was disappointed by the manner of of how the goals were
conceded. "We conceded goals when we were on top and couldn't score, the
ball wouldn't drop for us and go in. For the first half it just looked
like it wasn't going to be our day," he told the BBC.
"We got caught a couple of times going forward and that's happened quite
a lot in the few games running up to this one. They've got pacy players
and they break away really well and scored a couple of goals from it.
It just didn't seem to be our day."