Seven goal thriller
Hereford United came off the field with a four-three win over Aldershot this afternoon, in one of the most exciting game at Edgar Street for some years. The Shots went 2-0 up but Hereford improved their game with goals from James, Williams , Rose and the winner from sub David Brown. The attendance was 4985.
Bulls
leave bumper crowd elated
Hereford
United 4 - 3 Aldershot Town
When Hereford went
2-0 down on nine minutes, it looked as if Aldershot Town had this
game wrapped up but a series of twists meant Hereford United
emerged 4-3 victors with a late, late goal.
Billed as the first six-pointer of the Nationwide Conference
campaign, the game didn't fail to satisfy the bumper crowd of
4,985 at Edgar Street, which is the biggest league attendance
since Hereford's relegation to the non-league game in 1997. They
also leap-frog today's opponents back to the summit of the
league.
It could have gone the other way, though, as Tony James scored
the first goal on five minutes - in his own net. A deep cross
from the right channel from Nick Roddis fell to James, and his
attempted clearance cruely crept past Matt Baker to put the Shots
ahead. Four minutes later, Aldershot broke from a United attack
and Tim Sills drew Baker out of his area before rounding him and
slotting the ball into an empty net.
At that point, the Bulls could have few complaints but they
slowly came back into the game and had levelled by the break.
First, Ben Smith was brought down just outside the penalty area
and Nikki Bull stood no chance in their goal as Danny Williams'
fierce free-kick hit the back of the net.
Ben Smith threaded a good ball through the Shots defence to Rob
Purdie on thirty-six, but Bull got to it first as United searched
for the equaliser, and four minutes later a Paul Parry cross from
the Hereford left was nodded inches over by Danny Williams who
was just four yards from goal.
However, Purdie fed Michael Rose in injury time, and on the turn
his long-range effort levelled proceedings.
Aldershot withdrew goalkeeper Bull at the break for Richard
Barnard after an argument in the dressing room, and the
replacement brought down Ben Smith three minutes into the second
half. Tony James, ready to redeem himself from his earlier
own-goal, stepped up but Barnard pushed the ball away to his
right. However, he had moved off his line and the referee, Mr. R.
Lewis, had no option but to order a retake. This time, James made
no mistake as he fired into the roof of the net.
Both Danny Williams and Steve Guinan went close as the game wore
on, but Aldershot scored again with twenty-two minutes to gol.
Released by a long ball from the left channel, Aaron McLean fired
a low shot across Baker's goal and in off the post. The 440 away
fans were delighted, and almost saw Roscoe D'Sane put their side
ahead when his curling effort from outside the box went wide. Tim
Sills also nodded a ball wide from ten yards out after a later
cross from the left.
Then, another twist, as D'Sane was dismissed for a second
bookable offence for a challenge, which was slammed by irate
Shots manager Terry Brown. Nevertheless, they must have felt they
had done enough for a point, but it wasn't to be. In the third
minute of injury time, a Michael Rose corner from the right was
flicked on to find substitute David Brown at the far post. He
fired the ball into the net from inside the six yard box to send
Hereford top.
Written by Terry
Goodwin - 25th August 2003.
Hereford
United |
Aldershot
Town |
Matt Baker |
Nikki Bull (off, half time) |
Ryan Green |
Nick Roddis |
Michael Rose |
Jason Chewins |
Jamie Pitman |
Ray Warburton |
Andy Tretton |
Dominic Sterling |
Tony James (captain) |
Fiston Manuella |
Danny Williams |
Jon Challinor |
Ben Smith |
Lee Charles (off, 84 minutes) |
Steve Guinan (off, 73 minutes) |
Tim Sills |
Rob Purdie |
Roscoe D'Sane |
Paul Parry |
Aaron McLean (off, 90 minutes) |
Subs |
Subs |
David Brown (on, 73 minutes) |
Michael Harper (on, 90 minutes) |
Ben Scott |
Richard Barnard (on, half time) |
Richard Teesdale |
Luke Gedling |
Jordan King |
John Nutter (on, 84 minutes) |
Dean Craven |
Stuart Tanfield |
Yellow cards |
Yellow cards |
Andy Tretton (foul, 11 minutes) |
Nick Roddis (foul, 2 minutes) |
Tony James (foul, 23
minutes) |
Ray Warburton (foul, 45
minutes) |
Jamie Pitman (dissent,
31 minutes) |
Richard Barnard (foul,
48 minutes) |
Michael Rose (foul, 43
minutes) |
Roscoe D'Sane (dissent,
49 minutes) |
Steve Guinan (dissent,
45 minutes) |
Tim Sills (foul, 75
minutes) |
- |
Roscoe D'Sane (foul, 83
minutes) |
Red cards |
Red cards |
- |
Roscoe D'Sane (two bookings, 83 minutes) |
Scorers |
Scorers |
Danny Williams (29 minutes) |
Tony James (own goal, 5 minutes) |
Michael Rose (45 minutes) |
Tim Sills (9 minutes) |
Tony James (penalty, 51
minutes) |
Aaron McLean (68
minutes) |
David Brown (90
minutes) |
- |
- |
- |
Man of the Match |
The Team |
Attendance |
4985 |
Referee |
Mr. R. Lewis |