Saturday, September 29, 2001

Hereford United slumped to a shock 4-1 defeat at lowly Hayes in the Nationwide Conference.

The Bulls paid the price for a lack-lustre display which saw them slip to 15th place.

Striker Scott Voice provided a rare highlight on a bleak afternoon for Hereford, heading in his first goal for the club.

But the disjointed performance bewildered both Hereford manager Graham Turner and player-coach Phil Robinson.

Turner said: "There were some poor individual performances and we conceded goals when we could have got back into the game. Their third goal, for instance, came from a big kick down the middle."

Robinson said: "Hayes seemed to have more desire to pass the ball and were prepared to work harder. We needed better performances in every department."

Hereford edged the early exchanges against a Hayes side which started the day at the foot of the table and Rob Elmes should have opened the scoring in the 14th minute.

The miss proved costly because Hayes took the lead four minutes later when the lively Kevin Warner broke free and thumped a shot against a post. Ian Hodge was quickest to the rebound, firing into an empty net.

Ian Wright, returning after injury, headed narrowly wide moments before Voice rose above the Hayes defence to plant Tony James' 25th-minute left-wing cross beyond the despairing dive of Bertrand Bossu.

Voice's equaliser gave Hereford confidence, but the Missioners regained the lead in the 36th minute after Matt Clarke upended Hodge inside the box.

Hereford goalkeeper Matt Baker pushed out Dean Clark's weak penalty attempt only for the midfielder to follow up and ram the ball home.

Hereford pinned back the West London club for the opening 20 minutes of the second-half. Wright saw a header cleared off the line and Paul Parry had a shot blocked. Hayes held firm, however, and caught the Bulls on the counter-attack in the 71st minute.

Warner's long pass found Peter Holsgrove in acres of space. With Baker advancing, the substitute coolly slotted the ball underneath the goalkeeper.

With Hereford clearly shell-shocked, Hayes completed the rout five minutes later. Warner was fouled 25 yards out and Clark curled a delightful free-kick over the wall and into the top right-hand corner.

GOALSCORERS: Hodge 18 (1-0), Voice 25 (1-1), Clark 36 (2-1), Holsgrove 71 (3-1), Clark 76 (4-1).

STAR PLAYER: Tony James.

BOOKINGS: Hayes; Grey (foul), Sterling (kicking ball away); Hereford; Wright (foul), Elmes (dissent).

ATTENDANCE: 634.

REFEREE: Mr N Perkins (St Albans).

HEREFORD: Baker 5, Clarke 5, Capaldi 6, Webb 5 (Goodwin, 75), Wright 5, T. James 7, Voice 6, Snape 5, Elmes 5 (Quiggin 64, 5), G. Williams 5, Parry 5. Subs (not used): Gardiner, Evans, M. Williams.

HAYES: Bossu, Harris (Currie, 66), Gallen, Coppard, Sterling, Warner, Clark (Case, 78), Dyer, Grey, Hodge (Holsgrove, 50), Spencer. Subs (not used): Sladen.