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Bull controls Bulls
A report from The Times:
HEREFORD United took a step closer to regaining the place in the Football League that they lost in 1997 when they forced a draw in the first leg of the Nationwide Conference play-off semi-final at the Recreation Ground last night, writes Walter Gammie.
They showed that they have the capacity to pierce any defence, but after David Brown put them into the lead in the seventh minute, they found Nikki Bull, the Aldershot goalkeeper, in fine form. The goal was created by a quick free kick that fed Danny Carey- Bertram, whose shot was parried by Bull, allowing Brown to smash the ball home.
Bull blocked a fierce drive by Ryan Green and palmed away a curling free kick by Michael Rose just before half-time, before further denying Rose and Simon Travis after the interval.
Aldershot forced their way back into the match by applying persistent pressure from set-pieces. They were denied a penalty when Green appeared to elbow a header by Ray Warburton off the line, but justice was done a minute before half-time when Warburton gained a fortunate decision when pushed by Tony James. The penalty was converted by Roscoe D’Sane. “I thought it was a very harsh decision,” Graham Turner, the Hereford manager, said. “The other incident might well have been a penalty, but two wrongs don’t make a right.”
Aldershot shook Hereford after half-time, but Jamie Gosling hesitated to allow Matt Baker to block his shot after a pass by Jon Challinor and Lee Charles side-footed a golden chance over an open goal. “It’ll be a packed Edgar Street and this time the pressure will be all on Hereford, and we will be more than happy to exploit that,” Terry Brown, the Aldershot manager, said.