Hereford United did not record a home win in 1999 until a 3-0 win over Barrow on March 20th.
Here's a report on the game written by Peter Povall.
Hereford United 3 Barrow 0
Hereford United finally broke the curse that has denied them a home win for over four months. The last home win was against Doncaster Rovers on 28th November 1998.
Hereford United finally broke the curse that has denied them a home win for over four months. The last home win was against Doncaster Rovers on 28th November 1998.
Today's game saw a vast improvement in the quality of play that was presented at Yeovil last week. Having a full strength defence surely played a large part with Ian Wright and Stuart Evans both making a comeback.
Barrow looked like they were going to cause a few problems with a collection of large players and a habit of playing the long ball, but United's defence held strong throughout.
The initial pressure was exerted by Barrow as they pushed forward from the kick-off. Deep balls provided a couple of brief chances but as the crowd got behind United, Barrow were pushed back.
Gavin Williams had the first chance on goal after just 6 minutes when he headed over from close range.
United's second real chance came from no-where. Tony James blocked an assault on the edge of the United area and then raced almost the full length of the pitch, playing the ball well of himself, he reached the last 20 yards of the pitch and squared it through to Christian Roberts who hit a powerful angled shot which drifted just over the far corner.
Garry Cook was next with a chance and United found hole after hole in the Barrow defence. His volley was wide of the sticks but with the snapped shot he had been forced to take this can be understood.
Moments later and Christian Roberts was causing problems again. His attack was defeated the Barrow defence who left their goalkeeper Davies to clear the ball. He slipped and the ball dropped behind Roberts who turned and played across the goal, beat a defender and then sent his shot well wide when it would possibly have been easier to score with the keeper stranded.
Barrow weren't going to give in completely though. Dawson made an effort on 40 minutes when a mistake by Ian Wright left him an easy ball, which he sent wide from an engled shot.
The second half was anything but dull. Christian Roberts surged forward from the kick-off and immediately broke through the Barrow defence as the ball reached him. Under pressure from behind and with the keeper bearing down on him, his shot struck the near post and re-bounded across the open goal. Paul Parry was in the supporting role and was in just the right place to side-foot the ball into the back of the net.
From here on the game, football for Hereford, hand-ball for Barrow, really got started. Barrow were continually being pushed back into their own half as the United midfield pushed forward in attack. Minor fouls and multiple "hidden" hand-balls were made by Barrow but the referee either missed them or allowed play to continue as no real advantage was being made.
Garry Cook was the most disappointed as his powerful shot from the edge of the box beat the outstretched fingers of the keeper but Kennedy made a fantastic diving save, with the use of his hand which the referee missed.
Cookie was not going to be denied his goal though. He continued to press forwards from midfield and again found himself free on the ball. From about 15 yards he fired home a low curling shot to give United the two goal cushion they needed with just 15 minutes to play.
The flood gates could have opened on Barrow at this point. Gavin Williams produced a fine low drive which the keeper somehow managed to cling onto.
The final nail in Barrow's coffin came from Roberts as he gained the goal he had deserved throughout. He guided a beautiful shot from about 10 yards over the diving keeper and into the roof of the net.
Altogether the best performance I have seen from United in a long time. I actually let the ground with a smile on my face which is more than can be said for the last few months. A another 3 points from Woking on Tuesday night should protect us from the relegation battle and see that we can start and build for next season.