Result: 3-4 Loss (HT 2-4) Hinch 20, 65, Lee 35. Oldham scored four goals in 11 first half minutes (11, 14, 19, 21)
Attendance: 8,843
Hereford United: Hughes, Mallender, Naylor, McLaughlin,
Jones, Tavener, Rudge, Lee, Hinch, Gregory, Radford.
Opposition: Dowd, Wood,
Whittle, Edwards, Hicks, Mulvaney, McVitie, Jones, Lockhhead, Blair (Hateley),
Robins.
League Position: The defeat sees Hereford slip to 9th with
Oldham sitting in second place (16 games in).
On the Pitch: A remarkable run came to an end
when Oldham became the first team to score a first half goal at Edgar
Street for over a year. Hereford managed to dust themselves down though, and
through a combination of luck and stubborn defence, managed to go a further
three minutes unbeaten. To illustrate how football has changed, despite being
up against it, Hereford finished the match with the same XI as they started
with. A sneaky peak at the next programme reveals what Addison thought of this
match, his notes including "a bizarre 11 minutes when we conceded four
goals in a nightmare spell" and "whilst the game turned out to be a
real thriller, our defensive performance during the first half-hour was the
worst I have witnessed since I joined the club; I don't expect our team to
concede four goals away from home, and when it happened at Edgar Street I just
couldn't believe my own eyes. But, I think, you will agree that the players
redeemed themselves with their great fightback". Meanwhile Ron Parrott
recalls that Man of The Match Radford controlled the midfield.
Click on photos to
enlarge.
Colin's Comments: You will struggle to find a better summary of where HUFC were at than the wonderfully random recap of the recent trip to Gibraltar in his first paragraph.
In the Opposition: I grew up on a player who could rock a mullet, Mark Hateley; a striker that would be worth a few quid if he was about now. Mark played at Edgar Street for an impressive Portsmouth team in the 83-84 season; he scored a first half equaliser in a game that saw Hereford run out 3-2 first leg winners (Phillips 2, Pejic 4,631) in what proved to be a cracking League Cup first round two-legger. Portsmouth prevailed at their place, courtesy of a 3-1 win.
Anyway, he was only 12 when this
game was on - his dad though came on as a sub for Oldham. 32 year old Derby
born Tony Hateley had played and scored league goals at Notts County (109
goals), Aston Villa (68), Chelsea (6), Liverpool (28), Coventry (4), Birmingham
(6), Oldham (scoring only once), before winding his career down at Boston
Minutemen (me neither?), Bromsgrove, Prescott Town, and Barrow. Hateley Snr.
scored over 250 goals in total, but never played for England, something his son
achieved 32 times (scoring 9 goals). Mark was also born in Derby during one of
his dad's spells at Notts County.
The stand out name in their ranks
is youngster Keith Hicks (19 at the time) who, after laying down 250
appearances at Oldham, would go on to play almost 250 times for Hereford
between 1980-85 - including the above game against Mark Hateley. A defender when
football was still "proper," Hicks definitely falls into the ‘fondly
remembered’ category of former players. He has been back to Edgar Street as a
guest/half time crowd pleaser and is often spotted brightening up away ends
when Hereford play up north, which is a common occurrence.
Fan of the Week: There are surely some wonderful anecdotes in the collective memories of these fine HUFC folk - they could possibly recall the lot between them, right back to chapter 1 of the club’s story.
Edgar Street Chatter: A neat stat is revealed where it is noted that youngster Paul Lee and his brother Peter scored for the firsts and reserves on the same day (27/10/73), the first brothers to do so since 1954 when Reggie and Toddy Bowen achieved it in a match against Chelmsford City at Edgar Street. The Sunday People player ratings suggest that Ken Mallender is an early contender for player of the season, with Hughes and Owen hot on his heels.
Supporters' Corner: In his notes, Phil Godsall mentions that new offices are almost ready for use. These are maybe the recently demolished shed at the main stand of the Blackfriars Street back wall, which was most recently used by United in the Community in the 2010s, having also been the club shop.
Going by Car: The action photo featuring youngster Paul Lee also contains a sneaky view of Block D sprouting out of the ground.
In the News: 8th November 1973 sees the Second Cod War with Iceland end on the same day that the government announce that they will hand a whopping £146M over to three nationalised industries to help cover the costs of having price restraints imposed upon them. Beyond that, I could make this a lot easier by running through industries that aren't being blighted by industrial action. Around this time miners and ambulance drivers were having their turn at being unhappy.
In the Charts: Daydreamer/The Puppy Song by David Cassidy
is still at No.1.
On TV: Last of the Summer Wine kicks off on BBC1 on 12th
November 1973. The programme would run until 2010, which is
longer than Hereford United's two spells in the football league.
In the Maternity Ward: Beautiful South singer Jacqui
Abbott was born on November 10th 1973.
