A Trip Down Memory Lane

An exclusive series, Ron Parrott, author of 'Hereford United - The League Era' reviews a classic programme from the archives...
Part Fourteen - January 2002

Brentwood Town vs Hereford United - FA Trophy first round - January 10th 1970.

With the FA Trophy tie vs Chesham United on the horizon, I have chosen United's first-ever FA Trophy game for January's programme of the month. The season is 1969/70 and the opposition is Brentwood Town who are lying in mid-table of the Southern League Premier Division in their first season in that grade. United, occupying third position, approach the tie with confidence having already completed a league "double" over the Essex side. A crowd of 1,324 see Hereford win 4-2 at "The Hive" back in September with a superlative display by young winger Dudley Tyler, thus ending the "Bees" proud unbeaten home run of 51 weeks. Tyler scores one goal himself, an own goal is added and the other two come from full-backs Timms and Bird (one of only three occasions in United's history that both full-backs have scored in the same game). A healthier crowd of 3,236 turn up at Edgar Street to see United clinch the double in November, an 86th minute goal from David Summerhayes being enough to see them off.

The FA Trophy game is played on Saturday 10th January in terrible conditions, continuous rain turning the pitch into a quagmire. The conditions affect the attendance and only 885 turn out to witness a hard-fought encounter. Stevenson gives the home side the lead two minutes into the second half but the legendary John Charles picks a good time to score his first goal away from home for almost a year and equalises straight away. United's man-of-the-match however, is left-winger Brian Punter, who never stops running and covers every inch of the pitch. In defence, it's rock solid Alan Jones who earns the plaudits. There are no further goals and a 1-1 draw is probably a fair result.

A much better crowd of 3,432 are at Edgar Street the following Wednesday for the replay and see Hereford sneak a 2-1 victory, thanks to two own goals. It's another mud-clinging affair that must have been particularly galling for Brentwood's keeper Dunbar. Having repelled everything that United can throw at him, he's twice beaten by his own defenders!

Hereford go on to beat Andover 2-0 in the next round before bowing out of the competition by a similar scoreline at Barnet in the Third Round. United's team for both games v Brentwood was as follows: John Davies, John Bird, Peter Timms, Alan Jones, Ken Brown, Paddy Mullen, David Summerhayes, John Charles, Micky Lewis & Brian Punter.

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