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City beat Hereford to secure first win
By Nathan Jackson August 9 2006
City beat Hereford United 2-1 at Edgar Street after one of the most dominant first half displays in recent history. A Mark Stallard double gave the Imps the win but it should have been 4 or 5 goals by half time as the Imps spurned chances before a late penalty pulled 1 back for Hereford.

City started with a changed 4-4-2 and it was Hereford who got the game underway. However, it was the Imps who had the game’s first opportunity when Beevers’ through ball was missed by Mark Stallard. The former Notts County striker again wasted a chance a few minutes later when he dragged a shot well wide of the target. Hereford’s Fleetwood had their first effort but that was easily saved by Marriott.

Forrester had the game’s best chance when good work from Frecklington, Kerr and Stallard saw Forrester break through on goal but on loan goalkeeper, Scott Tynan ran out to smother the ball well. However, it wasn’t long before the Imps were in front but it was very fortune that they did. Forrester fed Stallard in and his shot deflected off of former Bournemouth defender, Phil Gulliver and it gave City a deserved, albeit lucky lead.

It was quickly back down at Hereford’s end as Paul Mayo sent in a deep cross but Forrester couldn’t control the ball and Stallard smashed the ball well over the bar. Stallard then played Amoo through one-on-one with Tynan but the keeper again did well to claim the ball, although it did appear to injure Amoo but Hereford played on and almost scored with a header that went just wide.

Hereford finally started venturing forward and they won a corner mid-way through the half but that set-piece came to nothing. However, Hereford came close to equalising a minute later when Tim Sills headed the ball goalwards but Marriott produced a world class save to keep City’s lead. Forrester almost punished them but his shot from close range went over. Forrester broke down the left just minutes later and sent a cross to the other side of the box where Mark Stallard was waiting and he headed back across goal to give the Imps a 2-0 lead that was the lead that the Imps deserved.

Sills and Mkandawire both came close to pulling a goal back but both were met with excellent saves from Marriott and it really should have been 3-0 when Amoo crossed to Hughes but the Northern Ireland Under 21 International could only hit the post and that would have almost certainly killed the game. Hughes was again close to scoring City’s 3rd minutes later when Beevers’ cross went past Stallard and to the back post where Hughes was waiting but he was obviously surprised by this and kicked it straight out for a goal kick. The last action of the first half was Tynan getting booked for fouling Stallard on the edge of the area.

There was an early scare for City as Marriott was injured in a 50/50 challenge with Sills but after many minutes, Marriott retook his place in the goal. Sills was again at the centre of attention when he jumped on Paul Morgan who again went down injured.

Around 10 minutes into the half and Hereford had easily their best chance when the ball fell to Andy Williams on the edge of the 6 yard box but instead of taking his time, he shot first time and the ball went well over the bar. A few minutes later and Jamie Forrester hit the post for the Imps following a header. Amoo then headed a chance wide for the Imps.

Martin Giles replaced Sheldon for the hosts but City should have made it 3 within a minute after Jeff Hughes failed to get his shoot from 6 yards out on target. Alan Connell, a striker who usually finds the net against City replaced Gulliver for the hosts and soon afterwards, Hereford had a chance to pull 1 back when Beevers fouled Sills in the area and Rob Purdie put away the penalty.

All of a sudden, Hereford were battering the Imps and they had the ball in the back of the net when a mistake in the City defence presented Connell with an open goal and he put the ball into the net to level the game........that is if he wasn’t stood in an offside position and the disallowed goal took all of Hereford’s momentum and when Colin Cryan replaced Amoo, the game was suddenly back in the Imps’ favour.

A brawl featuring Mayo and Fleetwood brought in half the players on the pitch, Mayo escaped punishment despite also appearing to elbow a Hereford player when walking away, Fleetwood was booked. That was to be the last major action of the game as City secured their first victory.

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