On September 24th 2002 Hereford travelled to Kettering and won the game 3-2.
A look back:
Late, late goal seals
lucky win
Kettering
Town 2 - 3 Hereford United
Most of the drama came in the last five
minutes as Hereford United came from behind to beat
Kettering Town 3-2 at Rockingham Road.
The Bulls, unchanged from Saturday's 2-0 win at Stevenage Borough, went behind against the side at the bottom of the Conference thanks to a soft second-minute goal. Andy Tretton had nodded out a deep free-kick and Carl Shutt swung the ball over from the right for Niall Inman to tap in from close range.
It took a bit of time for the Bulls to get going as Tretton almost let Shutt through once again, but United stopper Matt Baker collected the ball before John Grant appeared to be fouled in the area at the other end, although the referee gave a corner kick. With twelve minutes on the clock, Ian Wright flicked a Michael Rose cross over the top before the left-wing-back was fouled inside the area by Wayne Duik after seventeen minutes. The referee had little choice but to give the spot kick, and so James himself stepped up and fired the ball at Poppies' goalkeeper Ian Bowling. However, Bowling just pushed the ball back into James' path, and the Welshman got his head onto it and equalised for the Bulls.
Then United took control, and should have been in-front at the break. Steve Guinan wasted an opening from the left, Michael Rose fired over from thirty yards out, Danny Williams' effort was spilled by the goalkeeper and Paul Parry narrowly missed the target when he nodded over a ball flicked on by Tretton, who had early picked up a yellow card along with Kettering's Scott Goodwin after the two clashed on the half hour.
Grant was replaced by Rob Purdie in the interval because the striker had felt his calf in the opening period, so for the second half Paul Parry pushed into attack and from kick-off, Parry tested the goalkeeper who pushed away the ball but eventually recovered. Ian Wright headed a corner clear at the other end as the home crowd protested for a penalty before a twenty five yard effort from Michael Rose tested Bowling at the other end.
Brad Piercewright attempted to break through the Hereford defence on fifty four minutes, but his effort was restricted before United went into the lead on the hour. A Steve Guinan cross from the right was coolly turned into the net by Wayne Duik from twelve yards out! The conversion will go down as one of the best own-goals that will be seen anywhere in the Conference this season.
Kettering were then on the back foot - and looking for the equaliser. A poor Rob Purdie back-pass on sixty-nine almost let substitute Dale Watkins through but Tony James intercepted, and with seventeen minutes left Steve Guinan could have made it safe but he fired a Danny Williams corner wide of the near post.
Then came what United had been dreading. They had failed to capitalise on earlier chances and with five minutes left, a cross from the left reached Richard Butcher on the far post, and the youth player headed home to level the scores once again.
There was more drama, though. Two minutes into injury time, United captain Ian Wright, out of position, crossed from the left for Steve Guinan to direct a downward header over the line, and Danny Williams scooped the ball off the line at the finale to keep Hereford in the ascendancy.
A drama-packed, incident-packed match saw Hereford United come home with the points, but Kettering look to be in a false position at the bottom of the league.
The Bulls, unchanged from Saturday's 2-0 win at Stevenage Borough, went behind against the side at the bottom of the Conference thanks to a soft second-minute goal. Andy Tretton had nodded out a deep free-kick and Carl Shutt swung the ball over from the right for Niall Inman to tap in from close range.
It took a bit of time for the Bulls to get going as Tretton almost let Shutt through once again, but United stopper Matt Baker collected the ball before John Grant appeared to be fouled in the area at the other end, although the referee gave a corner kick. With twelve minutes on the clock, Ian Wright flicked a Michael Rose cross over the top before the left-wing-back was fouled inside the area by Wayne Duik after seventeen minutes. The referee had little choice but to give the spot kick, and so James himself stepped up and fired the ball at Poppies' goalkeeper Ian Bowling. However, Bowling just pushed the ball back into James' path, and the Welshman got his head onto it and equalised for the Bulls.
Then United took control, and should have been in-front at the break. Steve Guinan wasted an opening from the left, Michael Rose fired over from thirty yards out, Danny Williams' effort was spilled by the goalkeeper and Paul Parry narrowly missed the target when he nodded over a ball flicked on by Tretton, who had early picked up a yellow card along with Kettering's Scott Goodwin after the two clashed on the half hour.
Grant was replaced by Rob Purdie in the interval because the striker had felt his calf in the opening period, so for the second half Paul Parry pushed into attack and from kick-off, Parry tested the goalkeeper who pushed away the ball but eventually recovered. Ian Wright headed a corner clear at the other end as the home crowd protested for a penalty before a twenty five yard effort from Michael Rose tested Bowling at the other end.
Brad Piercewright attempted to break through the Hereford defence on fifty four minutes, but his effort was restricted before United went into the lead on the hour. A Steve Guinan cross from the right was coolly turned into the net by Wayne Duik from twelve yards out! The conversion will go down as one of the best own-goals that will be seen anywhere in the Conference this season.
Kettering were then on the back foot - and looking for the equaliser. A poor Rob Purdie back-pass on sixty-nine almost let substitute Dale Watkins through but Tony James intercepted, and with seventeen minutes left Steve Guinan could have made it safe but he fired a Danny Williams corner wide of the near post.
Then came what United had been dreading. They had failed to capitalise on earlier chances and with five minutes left, a cross from the left reached Richard Butcher on the far post, and the youth player headed home to level the scores once again.
There was more drama, though. Two minutes into injury time, United captain Ian Wright, out of position, crossed from the left for Steve Guinan to direct a downward header over the line, and Danny Williams scooped the ball off the line at the finale to keep Hereford in the ascendancy.
A drama-packed, incident-packed match saw Hereford United come home with the points, but Kettering look to be in a false position at the bottom of the league.
| Kettering Town | Hereford United |
| Ian Bowling | Matt Baker |
| Wayne Duik | Matt Clarke |
| Bryan Small (off, 81 minutes) | Michael Rose |
| Chris Perkins | Andrew Tretton |
| Martin Matthews (captain) | Ian Wright (captain) |
| Brad Piercewright | Tony James |
| Danny Walsh | Jamie Pitman |
| Scott Goodwin | Danny Williams |
| Shaun Murray (off, 28 minutes) | Steve Guinan |
| Carl Shutt (off, 67 minutes) | John Grant (off, half time) |
| Niall Inman | Paul Parry |
| Subs | Subs |
| Simon Ward | Scott Voice |
| Richard Butcher (on, 28 minutes) | Richard Teesdale |
| Garry Hughes | Rob Sawyers |
| Dale Watkins (on, 67 minutes) | Rob Purdie (on, half time) |
| Michael McKenzie (on, 81 minutes) | James Fox |
| Yellow cards | Yellow cards |
| Scott Goodwin (30 minutes, foul) | Andy Tretton (30 minutes, foul) |
| Red cards | Red cards |
| - | - |
| Scorers | Scorers |
| Niall Inman (2 minutes) | Tony James (17 minutes) |
| Richard Butcher (85 minutes) | Wayne Duik (own goal, 60 minutes) |
| Steve Guinan (90 minutes) | |
| Man of the Match | Steve Guinan |
| Attendance | 1434 |
| Referee | Mr. A. Marriner |