Wright undervalues Fleetwood

Below is a report on Saturday's game from The Times which includes some quotes from Stuart Fleetwood.

HEREFORD UNITED joined Chester City on six points from a possible nine thanks to two opportunist strikes that flattered an otherwise unconvincing performance. Nine years out of the Football League may have culminated in a euphoric play-offs win over Halifax Town in May, but injury, suspension and a home defeat by Lincoln City in midweek have taken some of the shine off the prize and the blustery conditions at Edgar Street did nothing for this spectacle.

The pitch, however, did. Left unwatered, the hard surface was duly noted by Stuart Fleetwood, whose goal and layoff for the second separated the sides. "We had a good look before the game, so I knew the bounce was a factor," the 20-year-old said. "For my goal, the defender misjudged it and I judged it a little better. Sometimes it's a fine line, but that's my job."

During a period in which Chester appeared to be gaining the upper hand, Fleetwood took a clearance in his stride and stroked home his second goal of the season in the 71st minute after beating Paul Linwood to the ball and anticipating the challenge of John Danby, the Chester goalkeeper.

He repeated the trick two minutes later, only this time to spot the run of Richard Rose, the midfield player, whose delicate touch bamboozled Danby before squeezing the ball between the legs of Ashley Westwood on the line.

The last thing Mark Wright, the Chester manager, was going to do after the match was boost the market value of a rival club's striker. "Fleetwood? He didn't have a kick in the first half, and didn't do too much in the second. It's not as if they've made the goals and I'm not in the habit of conceding goals like that," he said. "It was poor defending - the centre halves were to blame and I've told them so."

Unsurprisingly, Fleetwood had a different take on it all. "We won't play a more physical side in the league this season," he said. "They bombarded us with high balls and we dealt with it pretty well."

What had been a frustrating reunion for Drewe Broughton, the recently signed Chester centre forward, with Phil Gulliver, a Rushden & Diamonds team-mate last season along with Scott Tynan, presently on loan with Hereford from the club with whom they swapped places, took a turn for the worse just after the hour. With scant regard for his wages, Broughton chose the son of his chairman to clash heads with, necessitating both his and Stephen Vaughan Jr's substitution.

Precious few chances fell to either side, the best of which had seen Danby deny Fleetwood in what turned out to be a rehearsal for his goal, as Chester laboured to make their superior possession pay. Broughton's close-range header over Tynan's bar from Vaughan's cross after only a quarter of an hour was as good as it got for the visiting team.

Having seen the gate down by 800 on Tuesday's defeat, Graham Turner, the Hereford manager, was in no mood to celebrate. "I felt the longer the game went on the stronger we looked," he said.

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