SHREWSBURY (home) 27/03/04

Hereford United returned to the top of the Conference for the first time since October with a victory over local rivals Shrewsbury Town. The biggest Edgar Street crowd of the season, 5,850, saw what turned out to be a very tense and exciting game.

The home side went on the attack straight away, and went in front after just three minutes. A Michael Rose corner was only partially cleared, and David Brown picked up the loose ball. He chipped the ball into the path of Rob Purdie, who sprinted forward and buried the ball into the bottom corner from fifteen yards.

In the next move of the game however, Shrewsbury equalised. Kevin Street played the ball out wide on the right for Darren Moss to run on to. His cross wasn't dealt with properly, and Lee Lawrence was left with plenty of time to slot the ball past Matt Baker from six yards.

Shrewsbury went on to dominate the rest of the half, with Hereford struggling to get out of their own half. However, Hereford defended well and didn't let Shrewsbury have many worthwhile attempts on goal. The highly-rated Luke Rodgers sent a shot over, and Duane Darby put another effort wide with just Baker to beat. Rodgers in particular caused the home defence all sorts of problems with his pace, and Kevin Street impressed in midfield. Darby had two more attempts, but both went wide.

Hereford's only other effort of note in the first half came in stoppage time, when Steve Guinan had a shot from twenty five yards. Goalkeeper Scott Howie misjudged the flight of the ball however and could only tip it over the crossbar.

The second half initially followed the same pattern of play as the first half, with Matt Baker making an excellent diving save to deny Rodgers. However, United then started to take control and went ahead again on fifty-five minutes. Purdie this time was the provider, passing to Guinan inside the area. His initial effort was parried by Howie, but the ball ran loose to the Bulls' top scorer, who took the ball around the stranded goalkeeper and calmly rolled the ball into the net for his 26th goal of the season.

United now created a few chances of their own. Purdie laid the ball back into the path of Scott Willis, but from ten yards he blasted wildly over the bar when he looked odds-on to score. Purdie was now starting to really impress in midfield, and sent another attempt narrowly wide.

At the other end, Matt Baker was forced into two brilliant and crucial saves. Firstly, Duane Darby received the ball from a huge clearance by Howie. He fended off the challenge of Tom Smith, before finding himself one-on-one with the Bulls keeper. Baker however came out to meet him and made a great save at Darby's feet. Ten minutes later, he made an even better save from point-blank range from Jody Banim, when the substitute looked certain to equalise.

Darby was also booked for diving in an attempt to win a penalty, and Darren Tinson was extremely fortunate to stay on the pitch after hacking down David Brown when he had a clear run at goal. New signing Trevor Challis was also booked for a terrible foul on Guinan, as frustration started to creep into the visiting team.

In the end, United held on fairly comfortably, thanks mainly to excellent defending from each of the back five. Ryan Green again showed his international experience with a superb display at right wing-back, making some great interceptions and getting forward to support the attack, particularly in the second half. There were also great displays from Tony James and Andy Tretton, but that is more or less expected of them these days. United's outstanding defender however was newcomer Tom Smith. In only his second appearance for the club, he did superbly well to mark the physical Duane Darby more or less out of the game, and barely made a mistake.

In midfield, the hard-working Scott Willis and the tireless running of Rob Purdie caught the eye, as did the intelligent running of Guinan and Brown in attack. All in all, Hereford were made to work very hard for the win by a physical Shrewsbury side who should probably still make the play-offs. The question now is, can Hereford still win the Championship? On this run of form, you certainly couldn't rule it out.

Team and ratings: Baker (8), Green (9), Rose (8), James (9), Tretton (9), T. Smith (9), Pitman (7), Willis (7) (sub Williams (4)), Purdie (8), Guinan (8), Brown (7).
Subs not used: Travis, Scott, Carey-Bertram, Betts. Ê