Hereford
United 2 - 1 Nuneaton Borough (February 8th 2003)
With only Yeovil winning out of the other
top seven sides in the Conference today, it was important
that Hereford United kept up the pace. And so they did,
but they left it late. A little too late for some
people's liking. Nevertheless, Jay Lovett's ninety third
minute strike was worth waiting for.
Lovett linked onto a poor late clearance by the Nuneaton defence to fire a low shot home from all of thirty yards. It nestled in the bottom corner, and ensured Hereford United picked up three points for the first time in three weeks to jump back into the play-off zone.
The game started with Nuneaton having the best of the early openings. The Hereford defensive partnership of Ian Wright and Tony James, with Andy Tretton left on the bench, took a while to gain its composure and Nuneaton attacker Carl Alford broke into the box after just three minutes, with Matt Baker forced into a good save to tip his strike around the post.
From then on, United took over. Ben Smith's early shot was fiercely struck but deflected wide on twelve minutes, before he was eluded again on thirty six minutes when a Paul Parry cross was caught ahead of the midfielder by ex-United stopper Chris Mackenzie. Hereford were creating the chances, but not finishing them off.
There were no such problems, though, after the break. Two minutes in and Rob Purdie crossed over from the right to find John Grant in space, who tapped home from seven yards out. Both sides fought well in the second period in a game marred by some questionable decisions from referee Mr. L. Probert. One of which came with sixteen minutes to go, when Tony James was alledged to have fouled in the area. Carl Alford stepped up from the resulting penalty, firing the ball into the roof of the net to level the scores.
Hereford didn't sit back. Two minutes later, Jay Lovett struck the post from fifteen yards out and then three minutes into added time, found the winning goal which sends United back into fifth place and breaks the fifty point mark for the season.
Lovett linked onto a poor late clearance by the Nuneaton defence to fire a low shot home from all of thirty yards. It nestled in the bottom corner, and ensured Hereford United picked up three points for the first time in three weeks to jump back into the play-off zone.
The game started with Nuneaton having the best of the early openings. The Hereford defensive partnership of Ian Wright and Tony James, with Andy Tretton left on the bench, took a while to gain its composure and Nuneaton attacker Carl Alford broke into the box after just three minutes, with Matt Baker forced into a good save to tip his strike around the post.
From then on, United took over. Ben Smith's early shot was fiercely struck but deflected wide on twelve minutes, before he was eluded again on thirty six minutes when a Paul Parry cross was caught ahead of the midfielder by ex-United stopper Chris Mackenzie. Hereford were creating the chances, but not finishing them off.
There were no such problems, though, after the break. Two minutes in and Rob Purdie crossed over from the right to find John Grant in space, who tapped home from seven yards out. Both sides fought well in the second period in a game marred by some questionable decisions from referee Mr. L. Probert. One of which came with sixteen minutes to go, when Tony James was alledged to have fouled in the area. Carl Alford stepped up from the resulting penalty, firing the ball into the roof of the net to level the scores.
Hereford didn't sit back. Two minutes later, Jay Lovett struck the post from fifteen yards out and then three minutes into added time, found the winning goal which sends United back into fifth place and breaks the fifty point mark for the season.
Written by Terry Goodwin - 8th February
2003
| Hereford United | Nuneaton Borough |
| Matt Baker | Chris Mackenzie (captain) |
| Jay Lovett | Andy Thakeray |
| Michael Rose | Barry Williams |
| Ian Wright (captain) | Michael Love |
| Tony James | John Dyson |
| Jamie Pitman | Elliott Paschalis (off, 85 minutes) |
| Ben Smith | John Turner |
| Steve Guinan (off, 87 minutes) | Jason Peake (off, 71 minutes) |
| Rob Purdie | Carl Alford |
| John Grant | Daire Doyle |
| Paul Parry | Mark Quayle (off, 71 minutes) |
| Subs | Subs |
| Michael Husbands (on, 87 minutes) | Andy Wheeler |
| Ken Griffiths | Adam Cooper (on, 71 minutes) |
| Rob Sawyers | Danny Williams (on, 71 minutes) |
| Richard Teesdale | Paul Browne |
| Andy Tretton | Marc McGregor |
| Yellow cards | Yellow cards |
| Steve Guinan (foul, 53 minutes) | John Dyson (foul, 56 minutes) |
| Ian Wright (foul, 87 minutes) | Barry Williams (foul, 64 minutes) |
| Carl Alford (dissent, 90 minutes) | |
| Red cards | Red cards |
| - | - |
| Scorers | Scorers |
| John Grant (47 minutes) | Carl Alford (penalty, 74 minutes) |
| Jay Lovett (90 minutes) | |
| Man of the Match | Paul Parry |
| Attendance | 2071 |
| Referee | Mr. L. Probert (Bridgwater, Somerset) |