BN goes back nearly 22 years for today's archive article.
DOVER Athletic 0 - 1 Hereford United ( March 22nd 2002 )
Hereford United ended a run of four consecutive defeats when they beat bottom of the league Dover Athletic at the Crabble today.
The Bulls needed a late goal from substitute Steve
Piearce to win the points after an impressive performance from United
goalkeeper Stuart Jones, who kept the home side out on several
occasions.
Matt Clarke was suspended for the game, and Ian
Rodgerson not fully recovered from a foot injury, so the two were absent
from the starting eleven. Hereford coach Phil Robinson drafted in Jimmy
Quiggin and Rob Elmes as his line-up underwent a re-shuffle. Dover, who
sacked Neville Southall as manager this week, named ex-Hereford man
Kristian James on the bench.
The opening half was a tense affair with few real
goalscoring chances. Openings were created but few were converted into
serious efforts on goal. Gavin Williams should have put Hereford ahead
after eleven minutes when he hit a curling twenty five yard free kick
over the crossbar. Two minutes later, Williams wasted another chance
before Robinson hit the side netting.
In the Hereford goal, Jones was forced to punch clear a
cross-cum-shot from Dover wing back Steve Norman, and then proceeded to
turn a Scott Ramsay shot around the post with a superb diving save.
As the half came to a close, Rob Elmes hit his header
over the bar and then Tony James allowed Kevin Seabury through at the
other end, only for Jones to make another impressive save to keep the
scores level. In added time at the end of the first half, both Paul
Parry and Gavin Williams missed good headers to put the Bulls ahead, and
so the crowd of 952 were left without a goal at the break.
A transformation occurred at the break, with Dover
reformed and ready to attack. In fact, they dominated for spells of the
second period and were unlucky to eventually lose the game.
Jamie Day struck from twenty yards just five minutes
into the half, but the midfielder hit his left-footed angled shot just
wide of the target. That came after Rob Elmes had headed over a Gavin
Williams corner at the other end. Dover, at that time, were making the
most of their possession and substitute Chris Allen ran rugged John
Shirley on the Dover left wing.
Hereford, though, came back but Jimmy Quiggin failed
to beat goalkeeper Hyde after a Paul Parry corner from the left. On the
hour mark, Scott Goodwin placed a cross to Rob Elmes from deep on the
left wing, but the ex-Halesowen striker flashed his header wide.
With twenty five minutes remaining, Jones was called
into action again as Seabury fired a low shot into the corner.
Hereford's stand-in 'keeper made a low dive to turn the ball around the
post after Seabury was fed through by Ramsay.
Graham Turner, the Hereford chairman, then made the
crucial substitution. Quiggin was removed and replaced by Steve Piearce,
and at first made little impact. Ramsay continued to pressure the
Hereford goal as he headed the ball at Jones, and then Chris Allen
crossed the ball across goal but nobody was there to connect.
Then Piearce made an impact. With ten minutes left, he
picked up a loose ball and proceeded to lob it over Dover stopper Hyde
from twenty-five yards. The ball dipped into the net, and Hereford had
the goal they required.
The closing minutes were tense with Dover pushing for
an equaliser, but the Bulls held on. Jimmy Strouts created Dover's best
levelling chance, but he smashed his drive at the goalkeeper.
The result means Hereford move up one place in the
league, and hit fourty two points for the season. Their next match is at
home against Morecambe next Saturday, kick off 3pm.
Hereford United: Stuart Jones, John Shirley, Scott
Goodwin, Phil Robinson, Ian Wright (captain), Tony James, Jimmy Quiggin
(off, 66 minutes), John Snape, Rob Elmes, Gavin Williams, Paul Parry
Subs: Ian Rodgerson, Lee Evans, Daniel Davidson, Jon Hill, Steve Piearce (on, 66 minutes)
Yellow cards: Ian Wright (foul, 67 minutes) Gavin Williams (unsporting behaviour, 84 minutes)
Scorer: Steve Piearce (80 minutes)
Man of the Match: Stuart Jones
Attendance: 952
Referee: Mr. P. Crossley (Bromley)
HEREFORD United emerged victorious from yesterday's
Nationwide Conference six pointer, with a 1-0 victory over
relegation-bound Dover Athletic.
Bulls goalscorer Steve Piearce said on BBC Hereford
& Worcester: "I scored a similar one away at Morecambe last
year. We started to get dragged into the relegation fight and the main
thing is two wins could shoot you up the table. If we can put a good run
together we should be able to finish in the top eight."
Before the victory, Hereford had lost their last four
matches and Piearce commented: "Out of the four games, Farnborough was
the worst but we could have had something from the other three so it was
important to put that right today. We'll go into the Morecambe game
full of confidence."
Losing boss Clive Walker told the Non-League Paper:
"We've lost a lot of games here in the same manner this season. It's all
about scoring - which they did and we didn't.
In response to the protests for the re-instatement of
Neville Southall as boss, and the removal of commercial director Bill
Williams, Walker quipped: "At least there was some noise that created a
bit of an atmosphere which the lads responded to."