A look back to February 17th 2001 and a home game for Hereford United against Nuneaton.
HEREFORD UNITED 1 - 1 NUNEATON BOROUGH
Substitute Steve Bull scored in the last minute with a close range
header to gain United a deserved point at home to Nuneaton Borough. John
Snape provided the cross for Bull to head the ball through Chris
MacKenzie's legs to level the scores.
Prior to today's game, both sides would have been up for victory.
Hereford had won 3-0 at Hednesford last Saturday, but would the sale of
Michael McIndoe leave a gapping hole on the left of the midfield? Ian
Rodgerson filled the role, and did so with relative ease. Meanwhile,
Nuneaton remain unbeaten in their last four league matches, having
beaten Dagenham and Doncaster so far this month, in addition to today's
point.
Graham Turner named Tony James on the bench for the game, as well as
strikers Steve Bull and Andrew Moran, showing that the injury problems
were easing. Paul Parry was spotted jogging prior to the match, but Ian
Wright chose to watch the match from the stand. Jimmy Quiggin continued
in the team on the right wing.
Nuneaton missed former Hereford midfielder Mark Taylor, but Ian King
recovered from his groin injury to start, as did Michael Love, who was
suffering with an achilles strain. Barry Williams passed a fitness test
to start today.
Chris MacKenzie, Hereford's 'keeper when the Bulls reached the third
division play-offs in 1996, was selected for Nuneaton this afternoon and
had a good match, commanding well in his area.
The opening ten minutes saw the home side on top, with Robin Elmes
almost grabbing the lead with a good effort which was cleared by Love.
From then on, Nuneaton took the game by the scrap of the neck and looked
more like the home side for long periods in the opening half. In fact,
Scott Cooksey had to be on top form to keep out efforts from Marc
McGregor, the former Forest Green striker, Lee Charles, of Hayes FA Cup
fame, and Peake, who wasted a good effort. Barry Williams had a couple
of chances, but made up for his misses when he handed the away side the
lead with seven minutes of the half remaining.
United were truly awful at this point. The Nuneaton goal was inevitable
and it was clear something had to be done. Ian King hit a good ball from
the right wing, Barry Williams slotted home a close range effort to
give Nuneaton the lead. Borough should have extended their lead as they
retained possession until half time, but the break was needed by United.
Graham Turner must have been pretty agitated at the stoppage, and the
half time talk sparked his players into action. This match was certainly
'a game of two halves'.
Tony James replaced centre back Matthew Gardiner and, as the second half
got underway, United were on top. Phil Robinson went close from a
corner, as did Robin Elmes two minutes previous, and Elmes was unlucky
not to have gained two penalties as he appeared to have been fouled
twice.
Gavin Williams went on some dazzling runs but was not as good as he can
be, whilst Jimmy Quiggin played well before tiring and being replaced by
Steve Bull on seventy six minutes. Bull went into attack alongside
Elmes, as Williams pulled back into midfield. Matt Clarke had a good
game, overall the second half performances of the players were a huge
improvement of that in the first.
Steve Bull warmed up for a good fifteen minutes before entering the
fray, and looked much fitter and alert than he ever did against
Northwich a month ago. He went close on several occasions, but the
commanding figure of MacKenzie in the Nuneaton box prevented any
Hereford goals. His purple-shirted defenders got desperate on a couple
of occasions, but try as they might, Hereford couldn't prise a hole in
the defence. Even an effort from Tony James went horribly wrong, as from
the edge of the box he managed to hit the top of the Meadow End roof.
Had Hereford not gained a point from the match, it would have been an
injustice. The equaliser was deserved, but it was a huge shock when John
Snape got onto the end of a piece of play from United and provided a
sublime cross. Steve Bull closed his eyes as he outjumped the Nuneaton
defender, before heading the ball between the legs for MacKenzie and
over the line in the third minute of injury time.
Referee Mr E. Evans of Manchester was truly dreadful. He spoilt an exciting encounter with his inconsistent decisions and his failure to spot vital descrepancies. Phil Robinson was cautioned on eight minutes for a harmless foul, and Lee Charles seven minutes later, again for a foul. Marc McGregor was booked for dissent, and Paul Sturgess was then cautioned for kicking the ball away, and was lucky not to have been sent off later as he challenged another awful decision. In the final fifteen minutes, Simon Weaver was booked for dissent, and then Wayne Simpson and John Snape for fouls. Overall, he was the worst referee seen at Edgar Street this season.
Both sides will be pleased with the point gained today. Nuneaton were by far the better side in the first half, almost trapping Hereford in their own half, but the Bulls fought back and thanks to Steve Bull, gain a deserved draw. Now attention turns to Leigh RMI in the FA Trophy on Monday night.
Hereford - Cooksey, Clarke, Sturgess, Robinson, Gardiner, Wall, Rodgerson, Snape, Quiggin, Elmes, Williams
Substitutions - James (45), Bull (76).
Man of the Match - Phil Robinson.
Post Match Reaction:
STEVE Bull told of his delight at scoring his first goal for Hereford
United yesterday, almost two years after his last of an illustrious
career at Wolverhampton Wanderers. At Molineux, Bull netted 306 times
and a small fraction of that number would put him back into the
spotlight at Hereford.
On his home debut for Hereford, Bull headed past former United 'keeper
Chris MacKenzie to gain Hereford a point three minutes into injury time,
and Bull said: "You never lose the knack of scoring. It felt like I had
rolled back 10 years when it went in."
Bull's boss at Hereford and also at Wolves, Graham Turner, said: "It is
no accident that Steve was there at the far post for the equaliser. He
had worked hard to get there."
Nuneaton were obviously devastated at losing the lead so late in the
game which they had dominated for long periods. Jason Peake told of his
anger: "We are absolutely devastated. It feels like we have lost the
game to concede a goal with the last kick. We played the better football
and were the better team."