BARNET (home) 10/04/04

Hereford kept up the pressure on leaders Chester City with a hard-earned win over Barnet. With Chester also picking up three points, it was crucial that United did not slip up, and they are still in with a shout of going up.

The main talking points of the first half centred on referee Rob Lewis of Shrewsbury, who it has to be said made some incredibly strange decisions. Firstly, the Bees' Guy Lopez caught Matt Baker as they challenged for a highball, the result being that Lopez was booked and Baker had to be attended to for several minutes.

Ten minutes later, Lopez elbowed Hereford captain Tony James in the face. Incredibly, the referee did not give Lopez a second yellow card and, perhaps even more bizarrely, gave the ball to Barnet to kick back to the home side, even though he had signalled a Hereford free-kick in the first place. As a result, United were reduced to ten men for around ten minutes, as James was taken off to receive treatment.

Neither side managed to create many chances in a scrappy first half, not aided by a fussy referee who blew for a foul seemingly whenever two players challenged for the ball. Hereford's Scott Willis was booked after only three minutes, after lunging in at Joe Gamble and, as already mentioned, Lopez followed him into the referee's notebook shortly afterwards.

Hereford took the lead with seven minutes to go before half time, with only their second effort of note at goal. Jamie Pitman intercepted a pass, before releasing Simon Travis down the left. He in turn raced forward and passed to Rob Purdie, who fed Scott Willis. The on-loan midfielder's shot took a huge deflection off a defender and curled into the top corner of the net.

Before then, Hereford's only other chance came when Purdie sliced wide following David Brown's clever pass. Another shot was deflected wide, yet the referee elected to give a goalkick to the visitors. Barnet however failed to create many chances either, the best one being when Ben Strevens headed over from a corner. The half closed with Steve Guinan being caught offside following a good through-ball by Purdie.

The second half was more open, with both sides searching for a goal. Steve Guinan had a great chance when the ball was played through to him, but visiting goalkeeper Shane Gore came out quickly and made a very good save to turn the ball behind for a corner.

At the other end came two more moments of controversy. Baker played a short goalkick to James, but Lopez, who had been off receiving treatment for, ironically enough, an arm injury, raced back on, took the ball off the Hereford captain and passed to top scorer Guiliano Grazioli, who looked suspiciously offside. From eight yards and one-on-one with Baker however he managed to send the ball wide of the goal. Coach Richard O'Kelly was incensed, and raced from the dugout to remonstrate with the linesman.

Not long afterwards, Barnet were awarded an extremely dubious penalty when Andy Tretton was adjudged by the referee to have fouled Matt Redmile. Matt Baker however made an excellent, and crucial, save to keep out Ian Hendon's spot-kick. A minute later, Baker did well to block a firmly-struck free-kick by the same player; initially he fumbled the kick, but then grabbed the ball off the feet of Grazioli, who was closing in.

With fifteen minutes left however, United were awarded a penalty of their own when Guinan was held back by a defender. Tony James stepped up to take the kick, and converted it with aplomb. With the game sewn up, Hereford started to take control, with Danny Williams sending a free-kick inches wide from twenty-five yards, and Guinan having a shot deflected wide for a corner.

With ten minutes to go United were reduced to ten men. Scott Willis went shoulder-to-shoulder with Barnet substitute Ishmail Yakubu, and knocked his opponent to the floor. It was not a malicious challenge, yet the referee saw fit to show him a second yellow card - given some of the stronger challenges that were flying in elsewhere, Willis can count himself unfortunate to have been sent off.

In the end, Hereford held out fairly comfortably against an aggressive and physical Barnet side. Once again, this was down to excellent defending, as United kept another clean sheet. Tretton and James were again outstanding, and Matt Baker turned in a man-of-the-match performance. However, with Chester also winning today, any chance Hereford do have of winning the Conference championship would appear to be slim.

Team and ratings: Baker (9), Green (7), Travis (6), Tretton (8), James (9), T. Smith (7), Pitman (7), Purdie (7) (sub Betts (2)), Willis (7), Guinan (7), Brown (6) (sub Williams (5)). Subs not used: Scott, Carey-Bertram, Cozic. Ê Ê