On February 23rd 2002 Hereford United travelled to Chester for an FA Trophy Tie.
Injury time heartbreak for United
Chester City 2 - 1 Hereford United
Hereford United will count themselves very unlucky to have exited this season's FA Trophy at the Deva Stadium this afternoon as a late, late goal from Chester City's Jimmy Haarhoff secured a 2-1 victory.
The Bulls made two changes to the side that beat Boston United 4-3 on Monday night with Tony James replacing Jon Hill after injury and Jimmy Quiggin filling in for player-coach Phil Robinson in midfield. Chester's Mark Wright was unable to field Mark Williams, the former Hereford defender, as he was cup-tied, but Brian McGorry was named in midfield.
The game started slowly with few early chances. Hereford had the wind behind them but the bitterly cold conditions combined with occasional snow showers did little to boost the spirits of either the players or the fans, who were treated to a fairly drab opening period. The Bulls' first effort came when a surging Paul Parry run was ended by the back-tracking defender Phil Bolland.
Ian Rodgerson fired over from twenty five yards after fourteen minutes as Hereford dominated, but Chester had the advantage prior to that. After twenty minutes, attacker Mark Beesley hit a cross from the Chester right, but Dean Spink failed to connect cleanly with the ball as his header flashed wide of Matt Baker's goal.
Scott Goodwin squandered a cross that had been flicked on by Gavin Williams, and a minute later John Snape hit a low twenty-five yard drive at Chester goalkeeper Wayne Brown. At the other end, Dean Spink wasted a couple of chances as the home side looked most likely to take the lead.
With eight minutes of the first half remaining, Chester did as they had been threatening. A corner from Stuart Whittaker was headed in on the far post by Bolland and City had the lead. Hereford's defence had failed to notice the threat of the defender and they were destined to be behind at the break. Only Matt Clarke could challenge the Chester goal in the dying minutes, and his cross-cum-shot was easily dealt with by Brown.
Hereford had to play better in the second period, but it wasn't looking good when Chester came out and immediately opened up the Bulls' defence! The ball was eventually cleared but a minute or so later, Lee Woodyatt fired over from just outside the box. Hereford eventually got a good move together eight minutes into the half when Gavin Williams and Scott Goodwin linked to force a corner, but it was wasted.
At the other end, Chester should have doubled their lead. A corner was swung in for Bolland to head and Baker to save superbly. The ball was knocked out to Chris Blackburn who forced Baker into another acrobatic stop. Hereford had to react, and did so by bringing off Jimmy Quiggin for attacker Rob Elmes. Gavin Williams appeared to drop back into midfield and Paul Parry remained in attack to partner Elmes. The new striking partnership seemed to be working well two minutes later when Elmes hit a through ball to Parry who turned well before volleying the ball at the goalkeeper.
Paul Parry went close on the hour mark when he fired just over, and Elmes' introduction paid off sixteen minutes later when he levelled the scores. An Ian Rodgerson cross from the right was met by Elmes who headed home on the far post, an almost identical move to the winning goal against Boston on Monday night.
Everyone was set for a replay at Edgar Street on Tuesday night until, three minutes into added time, Chester's substitute Jimmy Haarhoff broke Bulls' hearts. He was allowed too much space and hit a low shot past Baker from six yards out.
Hereford were eliminated from the Trophy in the cruellest fashion and the six hundred or so travelling fans were understandably disappointed. United never really got going and a performance like that against Yeovil next week will result in another defeat.
| Chester City | Hereford United |
| Wayne Brown | Matt Baker |
| Lee Woodyatt | Matt Clarke |
| Paul Carden | John Shirley |
| Martyn Lancaster | Jimmy Quiggin (off, 57 minutes) |
| Phil Bolland | Ian Wright (captain) |
| Gary Brabin (captain) | Tony James |
| Brian McGorry | Ian Rodgerson |
| Chris Blackburn | John Snape |
| Dean Spink | Paul Parry |
| Mark Beesley | Gavin Williams |
| Stuart Whittaker (off, 78 minutes) | Scott Goodwin |
| Subs | Subs |
| Steve Rose | Rob Elmes (on, 57 minutes) |
| Michael O'Brien | Lee Evans |
| Chris O'Brien | Danny Davidson |
| Jimmy Haarhoff (on, 78 minutes) | Jon Hill |
| Danny Collins | |
| Yellow cards | Yellow cards |
| Phil Bolland (44 minutes, foul) | Jimmy Quiggin (24 minutes, foul) |
| John Snape (59 minutes, dissent) | |
| Red cards | Red cards |
| - | - |
| Scorers | Scorers |
| Phil Bolland (37 minutes) | Rob Elmes (76 minutes) |
| Jimmy Haarhoff (90 minutes) | |
| Man of the Match | Ian Rodgerson |
| Attendance | 1,747 |
| Referee | Mr. S. Castle (Wolverhampton) |