Bulls smash Leigh but Chester come top
Hereford United beat Leigh RMI 5-0 this afternoon, but congratulations to Chester City, whose 1-0 win against Scarborough means they clinch the Nationwide Conference title.
Chester
clinch title but United win again
Leigh
RMI 0 - 5 Hereford United
The title race may
be over, but Hereford United made sure that if Chester City had
slipped up, they would have had to fight for the championship
after this 5-0 win over Leigh RMI.
As it was, Mark Wright's side won 1-0 over Scarborough to clinch
top spot, but United won their tenth consecutive match and
ensured Leigh's relegation in the process, clinically dispatching
of their opponents.
Had Leigh won and Farnborough Town lost, then the Railwaymen
could have stayed up as a team may not be promoted from the
Unibond League this season. However, Farnborough beat Burton
Albion and so Leigh are down.
Hereford knew that anything other than a Chester win would have
been a minor miracle, so it was no surprise that they beat
Scarborough. Nevertheless the Bulls wanted to prove why they have
pulled away from the rest in the play-off zone, and so they did.
Unchanged from the 2-1 win at Aldershot, the Bulls used the
occasion to notch up goals number ninety-seven to one-hundred and
one.
The first came after just four minutes, as Steve Guinan was
brought down in the area by Gareth Ellison. The referee, Bob
Pollock from Liverpool, pointed to the spot with little
hesitation, and Tony James scored Hereford's ninth penalty of the
season.
Leigh could have got back on level terms three minutes later when
a Tristan Whitman cross was headed goalwards from Carl Rezai, but
Matt Baker saved well, and within a minute United looked for a
second penalty as Simon Travis protested for a push. The referee
waved it away, but Hereford found their second goal just before
the half-hour mark. Rob Betts passed to Steve Guinan, who
shrugged off a couple of challenges before moving into the box
and firing a low ball into the bottom of the net.
Tristan Whitman and Andy Roscoe forced stops out of Matt Baker
before Mario Daniel should have pulled a goal back. He broke
free, but took too much time on the ball, and Tony James
back-tracked to tackle when he was one-on-one with the
goalkeeper. Daniel couldn't believe it!
With three minutes of the half left, United's ex-Stevenage
Borough full-back Simon Travis added Hereford's third. He cut in
from the left, eluding the lurking Rob Purdie, before turning and
firing home.
After the restart, Mario Daniel fired goalwards before Andy
Tretton blocked on the line, and Leigh made it difficult for
United to add a fourth. Guinan got in a shot on the hour, while
substitute Michael Rose hit a long-range effort inches wide with
fifteen minutes to go after Mark Beesley's initial chance had
been pushed away.
Daniel Carey-Bertram scored Hereford's one hundredth goal of the
season with seven minutes to go, when he fired home. Full-back
Michael Price allowed the youngster through, and Leigh goalkeeper
Ian Martin was outraged at his defence.
Then Guinan scored United's fifth, goal 101, with two minutes
left, as he fed onto a long cross-field ball, took a couple of
touches, and cooly knocked the ball past Martin.
Written by Terry
Goodwin - 17th April 2004.
Leigh
RMI |
Hereford
United |
Ian Martin |
Matt Baker |
Carl Rezai |
Ryan Green |
Neil Durkin (captain) |
Simon Travis |
David McNiven (off, 63 minutes) |
Tom Smith |
Tristan Whitman |
Andy Tretton |
Andy Roscoe |
Tony James (captain) |
Michael Price |
Robert Betts |
Steve Gunby (off, 69 minutes) |
David Brown (off, 61 minutes) |
Mario Daniel |
Jamie Pitman (off, 71 minutes) |
Gareth Holmes |
Steve Guinan |
Gareth Ellison (off, 68 minutes) |
Rob Purdie (off, half time) |
Subs |
Subs |
Damien Whitehead (on, 63 minutes) |
Michael Rose (on, 61 minutes) |
Graham Tench (on, 68 minutes) |
Tony Coton |
Steve Smith |
Daniel Carey-Bertram (on, half time) |
Steve Redmond (on, 68 minutes) |
Bertrand Cozic |
Liam Coyne |
Mark Beesley (on, 71 minutes) |
Yellow cards |
Yellow cards |
Steve Redmond (foul, 76
minutes) |
- |
Red cards |
Red cards |
- |
- |
Scorers |
Scorers |
- |
Tony James (penalty, 4 minutes) |
- |
Steve Guinan (28, 88
minutes) |
- |
Simon Travis (42
minutes) |
- |
Daniel Carey-Bertram
(83 minutes) |
- |
- |
Man of the Match |
Simon Travis |
Attendance |
836 |
Referee |
Mr. B. Pollock (Liverpool) |