Heartening opening-day victory

Below is a report on Saturday's game from the Guardian written by Rob Parsons:

Hereford's return to the Football League was hailed as a new beginning yet, for a club with a history of overcoming the odds, it had a familiar feel. Just as they did in their years of FA Cup giant-killings, Graham Turner's team battled as if their lives depended on it on the way to a heartening opening-day victory.

In the nine years since Turner's side lost their league status in a last-day decider against Brighton in 1997 the club has suffered serious financial problems, with fears over the future of their stadium making their past heroics an extremely distant memory.

Turner invested his own money in the club's shares and became the director of football but he could not stop the club being handed over to the administrators with debts of more than £300,000 in 1998. Barred from making transfers, Hereford could make a serious challenge for promotion only after the shackles of a company voluntary arrangement were lifted in 2004.

They were denied in two successive play-off semi-finals but a thrilling 3-2 win over Halifax in last season's final finally earned promotion. In their return to the League on Saturday, they were battered for 90 minutes by a skilful Stockport side but won thanks to goals from Stuart Fleetwood and Tamika Mkandawire.

Speaking afterwards, Turner rejected the notion that his team are back in their rightful place. "I always say you belong where you finish up and, if you are not good enough to stay in the league and you get relegated, it is because you have not been good enough," he said. "You look at the ground here and everything is a notch or two above what we are used to. We have got to pick it up very quickly or we will pay the penalty."

More than 1,000 Hereford fans made the trip to Cheshire but they saw Stockport dominate the early exchanges. Glenn Murray and Adam Le Fondre were too much for Hereford's inexperienced defence, with Murray thwarted only by his own profligacy and the excellence of the Hereford goalkeeper Wayne Brown.

Fleetwood, who had been anonymous for most of the first half, then silenced the crowd in the 36th minute as he brushed aside two defenders to run 30 yards before slotting coolly past James Spencer.

Jim Gannon's Stockport found plenty of space in the second half but were unable to find a way past Brown, before Hereford's Malawi-born captain Mkandawire ghosted into the box to head in a Rob Purdie corner.

Man of the match Wayne Brown (Hereford United)

And here is a report from the Telegraph by John Dakin:

Nine years away from league football have left Hereford manager Graham Turner feeling as if he is travelling into the unknown this season.

Turner, who was in charge of the Bulls when they were relegated in 1997, has since become the majority shareholder at the club, as well as manager, taking them out of the Conference via the play-offs in May.

This victory at Stockport - who could so easily have swapped places with Hereford last season, but for a remarkable turnaround in fortunes under their coach, Jim Gannon - will go some way to settling the side's worries.

Turner said: "Stockport's side, the ground and everything is a notch or two higher than we've been used to for nine years. It has been like coming into the unknown. I liken it to when English teams were out of Europe. It takes time to get the pace again, but we've got to do it quickly otherwise we'll pay a heavy penalty. It has been a magnificent start and I hope that gives the players the confidence they need for what's ahead."

It could have been a lot different if Stockport had converted one of their many early chances, with Michael Rose hitting the post with a free-kick and Michael Raynes watching as his shot was cleared off the line.

Hereford's goalkeeper Wayne Brown, who would later leave the pitch with a groin strain, was the visitors' hero after pulling off a string of fine saves, including an instinctive stop to keep out Glenn Murray's flick.

Stuart Fleetwood scored Hereford's first goal in a breakaway after 36 minutes, with Tamika Mkandawire heading the second from Rob Purdie's corner after the break.

Yet Gannon was upbeat in defeat. "There was a lot of encouraging stuff, especially the way we created so many chances," he said

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