Turner sees the light after dark days

Mark Venables wrote this report for the Times:

NINE YEARS OF HURT for Graham Turner, the Hereford United manager, were washed away when Ryan Green curled a shot past the despairing dive of Jon Kennedy to seal an extra-time victory in the Nationwide Conference play-offs final at the Walkers Stadium.

For Turner, the chairman and major shareholder as well as manager, it has been a dual role of turning the team around on the pitch while restoring some stability to the financially stricken club. For the third consecutive season Hereford ended the league campaign as runners-up, but unlike their previous two attempts, this year they negotiated the semi-final and on Saturday Turner's personal sacrifice was at last rewarded.

"I can recall the day that we were relegated from the Football League against Brighton nine years ago. It was full of despair and I have never known so much emotion," Turner said. "But distance lends a bit of forgetfulness.

"When I left Wolves I never thought that I would finish at a club as small as Hereford. The events that happened after that, the relegation - the club was in dire straits, the players hadn't been paid. It was a foolish thing to buy shares in a football club and there has not been a day that I have not regretted it.

"You become entrenched at one club, you can't walk away from it as managers could."

Hereford had twice trailed in a pulsating encounter, to a 20-yard drive from Lewis Killeen midway through the first period and a close-range effort from John Grant, the former Hereford player, with 15 minutes left, but both times they responded magnificently. A far-post header from Andy Williams restored parity just before the interval and a powerful header from the much-travelled Guy Ipoua sent the tie into extra time. Then Green stepped up to banish any fears of a penalty shoot-out, which Turner admitted he had been dreading.

"We could have played better but that's academic, we are in the Football League," Turner said. "We have had three outstanding seasons to finish runners-up."

Amid the euphoria, however, Turner was already planning for what will be a difficult transition. "We know there is a gulf between the Conference and League Two," he said. "I have always maintained that well-run clubs of our size can reach the Championship."

Maybe Turner had just remembered that his side had dropped out of the league after finishing 24th in the bottom tier in 1997. Wigan Athletic finished first and Fulham second.

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