United through to fourth round

Hereford United 4 - 0 Chesham United

Goals from Phil Robinson, Paul Parry, Gavin Williams and Steve Piearce saw Hereford United comfortably progress to the fourth round of the FA Trophy tonight at Edgar Street in a replay against Chesham United.

The 4-0 scoreline reflected the Bulls' dominance although Chesham held their own for long periods of the first half and will perhaps have felt themselves a little unlucky to have been behind at the break. However, a superb second half display saw Hereford extend their scoreline with three well-taken efforts.

The Bulls named Jimmy Quiggin in attack in place of Rob Elmes as coach Phil Robinson made just one change from the team that drew 2-2 at Chesham on Saturday. With Elmes and Danny Davidson injured, Steve Piearce was recalled to the bench and later entered to score the fourth goal. Chesham boss Bob Dowie drafted in Victor Boyle-Renner into midfield after he come on from the bench on Saturday.

Hereford skipper Ian Wright flashed an early effort wide after Paul Parry had received treatment for a knock, but it was Chesham who started to dominate against their high-graded oppenents with little reward in terms of shots on goal. After fifteen minutes, Hereford took the lead as Matt Clarke and Gavin Williams played a slick return pass on the right hand side before Clarke crossed in to Jimmy Quiggin. The ball fell to Phil Robinson, and from two yards out the veteran midfielder fired home to give Hereford a vital lead.

Three minutes later, Chesham stopper Delroy Preddie managed to show off his reflexes when he spilled a Gavin Williams shot and, as the ball fell to Jimmy Quiggin, he jumped back to his feat to prevent the youngster doubling the Hereford advantage with an impressive catch. Gavin Williams headed across goal midway through the half as he failed to connect onto a Parry cross and Ian Rodgerson fired over from twenty five yards as Hereford pushed in attack.

However, Chesham fought back and were eager to equalise before the break. Lee Spiller made some promising moves with little reward due to a sturdy Hereford backline, including John Shirley who looked greatly improved since Saturday. The Ryman League side were let down by the wayward shooting of Wayne Andrews and Paul Fewings who had several openings but squandered efforts.

The second half saw Hereford dominate and Chesham pushed onto the back foot. Fewings headed a ball wide on fifty three minutes, but Hereford responded and three minutes later, made it 2-0. Gavin Williams, after a great turn away from the defender near the half way line, ran to the edge of the box before slipping the ball short to Parry. The midfielder took it in his stride before cutting inside and getting it onto his right foot and smashing it home. His crisp connection gave Preddie little chance of a save, and the Bulls had doubled their lead.

Gary Wooton had a chance for Chesham blocked following a goalmouth scramble from a corner and on a counter attack minutes later, Jimmy Quiggin failed to beat Preddie when clean through as the goalkeeper blocked well with his legs. Quiggin was removed soon after and replaced by Steve Piearce who initially had little impact. Two minutes later, Phil Robinson smashed a drive at Preddie following a Gavin Williams free kick and with nineteen minutes left, a goalmouth scramble increased Hereford's advantage further. A shot came in for Preddie to deal with and the ball was knocked out to Williams who hit a high lob over the defenders and stranded 'keeper which bounced in off the far post. Hereford's domination had paid off, albeit with a dubious deflection.

Matt Clarke and Ian Rodgerson were both withdrawn for Mark Williams and Alex Kevan respectively to freshen up the Hereford team, whilst Chesham brought off defender David Pratt for young midfielder Mark Boyce. The move paid dividends for the Bulls as with ten minutes left, a corner was swung in from the left. The ball was blocked and fell to Williams who knocked it onto the head of Piearce, but the striker nodded just wide. However, he made up a minute or two later when Williams threaded through a superb one-two for Piearce to run goalwards. He didn't hesitate as he approached goal, lifting the ball over the advancing 'keeper who had made a dive forward to increase Hereford's lead to 4-0.

In the aftermath of the goal, Victor Renner-Boyle was sent off for Chesham after arguing with and then pushing over the referee, Mr. Chapman, who had officiated well throughout allowing the game to flow. Despite Chesham going down to ten men, they fought on but failed to create anything of note in the closing stages.

Hereford pick up a place in the fourth round on 2nd February, when they host another Ryman League side, Hampton & Richmond Borough. The Bulls also net a prize of £1,000 for tonight's victory. The man of the match award goes to Gavin Williams who was at the heart of Hereford's attacking play but nobody from the home side played badly. What was particularly encouraging to see was the link-up play between certain players. Paul Parry and John Shirley overlapped well on the left side of the pitch and after his entrance, Steve Piearce made some good moves with Gavin Williams to torment the Chesham defence.

A job well done for Hereford, but the score doesn't reflect Chesham's effort which stretched the Bulls in the first leg.

Written by Terry Goodwin - 15th January 2002.

Hereford United: Matt Baker, Matt Clarke (off, 72 minutes), John Shirley, Phil Robinson, Ian Wright (captain,) Tony James, Ian Rodgerson (off, 79 minutes), John Snape, Jimmy Quiggin (off, 62 minutes),Gavin Williams,
Paul Parry

Subs; Mark Williams (on, 72 minutes), Scott Cooksey, Alex Kevan (on, 79 minutes),Steve Piearce (on, 62 minutes)

Scorers:
Phil Robinson (14 minutes)
Paul Parry (56 minutes)
Gavin Williams (71 minutes)
Steve Piearce (83 minutes)

Man of the Match: Gavin Williams
Attendance: 1,075
Referee: Mr. G. Chapman

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