Saturday, March 2, 2002

Hereford United's inability to go the distance once again cost them dear with at Huish Park on Saturday.

Nick Crittenden's opener seconds from the end of the first-half and substitute Andrew Lindegaard's strike two minutes into injury time at the end of the game wrenched away the point that seemed to have been earned by Paul Parry's 47th minute equaliser.

And all this just a week after Jimmy Haarhof's strike 90 seconds into injury time ended the Bull' FA Umbro Trophy involvement at Chester.

Just to make matters worse, midfielder Scott Goodwin was stretchered off, also in injury time, with suspected concussion.

Even the most partisan of Yeovil's supporters could hardly have denied that Hereford deserved a share of the points in an exciting match on a dreadfully poor pitch.

As early as the first minute, Hereford goalkeeper Matt Baker was in the action, racing off his line to foil Adam Stansfield after the young striker had got the better of Ian Wright.

The first real chance of the game arrived on 18 minutes when Goodwin felled Chris Giles in the penalty area and referee Martin Postles had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

Giles took the penalty himself, but Baker proved his equal, diving to his left to push the ball away.

But on 29 minutes, everyone on the ground, bar referee Postles and his two assistants, thought Hereford had taken the lead.

Parry took a pass from Rob Elmes on the edge of the penalty area and crashed a shot against the crossbar. The ball bounced down, clearly over the line, but the officials waved play on.

Three minutes later skipper Ian Wright and Tony James scrambled the ball away after a tremendous melee in the Hereford goalmouth, but the Bulls were not so fortunate in the 44th minute. Crittenden's cross-shot bobbled through the visitors' defence and into the corner of the net.

But Hereford gained some reward for their enterprise 60 seconds into the second-half when Parry raced on to a John Snape pass and clinically dispatched his shot under Weale and into the net.

Yeovil were reduced to 10 men on 73 minutes when former United midfielder Michael McIndoe was dismissed after an incident with John Snape.

But with time almost up, Lindegaard seized on a loose ball to drive a low shot past Baker. It was rough justice indeed for United.