Saturday, September 14, 2002

Hereford United extended their unbeaten run to three matches with a creditable 0-0 draw against high-flying Chester City at Edgar Street in the Nationwide Conference on Saturday.

Sixth-placed United held their own against the much-fancied and unbeaten visitors and were unlucky not to record their third successive victory.

Cheered on by their biggest home gate of the season, Hereford, without the injured Paul Parry, looked sound in defence and carved out the two clearest goal-scoring opportunities against a club, who have yet to concede an away goal.

Midfielder Danny Williams should have broken the deadlock in the 57th minute after visiting goalkeeper Wayne Brown fumbled Michael Rose's corner kick but the former Chesterfield player fired over the bar from eight yards.

And just four minutes from time Williams' free kick fell to Bulls skipper Ian Wright about 10 yards out but the central defender scuffed his shot wide of the target.

Former Chester City defender Rose also posed a significant threat to his former club and tested Brown on three occasions with rasping left-foot shots from distance.

Although Hereford goalkeeper Matt Baker had a quiet afternoon, he excelled on the one occasion that he was called into action.

Baker saved brilliantly at point-blank range from Scott Guyett in the 71st minute and then Williams did well to block Mark Beesley's follow-up shot on the goal-line.

The only real disappointment was the overzealous nature of Bristol-based official Steve Tanner, who cautioned eight players - five from Chester - in a game which was hard-fought, but not dirty.

Both teams took a long time to settle down, with many passes going astray in a scrappy first half, although John Grant volleyed straight at Brown and the Chester goalkeeper also held a stinging free-kick from Rose.

The Bulls looked the most likely team to score in the second half and the visitors were forced to soak up heavy pressure in the dying minutes.

Wright said: "We felt quite comfortable against a team who are second and have spent a lot of money on players in the summer.

"Obviously, we were disappointed not to win and I was disappointed not to have stuck my chance away near the end. But I honestly believe that if Chester are one of the top teams in this division, then I think that we have nothing to fear this season."