CM4: From Hereford to Eternity

[klayman]

Hereford vs Southport
It’s all Southport early on, and Baker does well to parry a 30 yard shot wide of the net in the 6th min. Off the corner, and Baker has to be brilliant to save a header to keep the score even. We get very little in the way of chances, with both Smith and Guinan putting our only shots of the 1st half over the bar. Southport strike in the 43rd, when Pitman misjudges a long ball and Southport convert on the opportunity to put them up by one going into the break. Southport continue to outplay us in the 2nd half, but in the 82nd min, Carden flicks a long Teesdale pass to substitute Correia, and he makes no mistake from the top of the area, to thankfully eek out a 1-1 draw for us.

Stevenage are blasted by Dag & Red 1-4, keeping our slim title aspirations alive for the time being. All they need is a win in their last 4 games however to claim the title because of our last three straight draws.

Hereford vs Dag & Red FA TROPHY Semi-Final 1st Leg
A tentative start by both teams, as neither are able to create any chances early on. In the 38th min, Rossiter finds Keegan all alone on the right flank, and Keegan just manages to stay on side. Keegan then draws the defenders and plays a perfect cross to Carden all alone in the area to cap an excellent move, and give us the 1-0 lead. Baker is forced to come up big to start off the 2nd half, as Dag & Red pressure for the all important away goal. Foley-Sheridan breaks free in the 58th, looking to put the game out of reach, but GK Tony Roberts is equally impressive with his save, to keep Dag & Red in the match. There hopes are crushed in the 81st, however, when Foley-Sheridan feeds Keegan and he finds the net for the late goal giving us a 2-0 aggregate lead heading into the next match.

Stevenage clinch the title with a 3-0 pasting of Halifax, ending our slim title hopes.

Halifax vs Hereford
Not much in the way of action in the first half, as we rest most of our stars in preparation for the 2nd leg against Dag & Red. However, Halifax strike in 1st half stoppage time, when a 25 yard strike finds the top corner, sending us into the break down 0-1. We quickly get that back to start of the 2nd half, when Correia gets fouled in the area off a Ben Smith free kick, and Smith confidently scores on the penalty to equalize in the 46th min. Correia than makes a great solo effort, dribbling past 3 Halifax defenders and burying the ball from the top of the area for the 2-1 lead in the 58th. Smith finds an unmarked Correia 25 yards out in the 65th, and Correia blast the long range volley into the net for his 10th of the year and a 3-1 lead. Halifax get that one back, only mins later, when Garry is beat in the air, and the Halifax header finds its way past Baker to cut the lead to 1. Halifax press for the equalizer, but Ben Smith ends those hopes when he intercepts a poor back pass and puts the ball pass the stranded Halifax GK for the 4-2 win.

The win at the very least clinches a playoff spot for our club this year. Baring a complete meltdown, though, I’m confident we will finish in 2nd place. Woking are the first team to fall out of the conference, as a 0-0 draw against Barnet was not enough to keep them in the running, and they are relegated to the lower divisions.

[klayman]

Ex-Hereford players Tony James and John Grant will be making a return to the conference next year, as Darlington are relegated from the 3rd Division. Both are regular starters in an uninspiring Darlington squad.

Dag & Red vs Hereford FA TROPHY Semi-final 2nd Leg 0-2 aggregate
Dag & Red pressure for the quick goal, but Keegan catches them on the counter attack and a beautiful cross to Carden sees Carden’s header go agonizingly inches from the post in the 6th min. Dag & Red put Baker under pressure, and in the 26th a quick break sees a header get by him, as Dag & Red close to within one. They equalize only 10 mins later with a very similar play, but it’s called back on the offside, and we catch a huge break. Checking the replays, it wasn’t offside at all, and we go into the half only down by 1. Dag & Red continue to come forward, and in the 61st Baker has to come up big from in close to keep us in the lead. Teesdale gets a questionable foul in the area at the 76th min, but heartbreak for Dag & Red, as star player Danny Shipp puts the ball over the bar. They are rushing everyone forward now to try to equalize late in the game, but Tretton intercepts a ball in the 92nd min, and Carden feeds Guinan with a beautiful pass into the 6 yard box, where Guinan ends any Dag & Red hope grabbing the 1-1 draw and the 3-1 aggregate win.

We advance to the final where we’ll face Yeovil for the FA Trophy. Although we would have advanced without it, Guinan's late strike continues our 19 game undefeated streak dramatically.

[klayman]

We thankfully get a week off for each game now, so our players should be fully rested for each match.

Hereford vs Dag & Red
It is a very demoralized Dag & Red squad who has nothing to play for that take the field, a stark contrast to the one we played in the FA Trophy semi final. Foley-Sheridan puts us up by one in the 38th min, after missing several good chances before that, and that’s all we need, as Dag & Red manage only 1 weak shot late in the game, for the 1-0 win.

The win secures 2nd place for us and a playoff game against the 5th place squad. Dinamo Kiev and Fenerbachce both advance out of the UEFA Cup semi finals to compete in the UEFA Cup final to be held later in the month.

Hereford vs Scarborough
We welcome 5th place Scarborough to Edgar Street. Scarborough are knee deep in the battle for the final 3 playoff spots, where 3 points separate 3rd from 7th spot in the standings. We control most of the play, and Keegan and Carden combine to get about 5 good scoring chances, but Scarborough GK Andy Woods is up to the task and the game remains even. Into the 66th min, and Andy Tretton who’s having a brutal game so far, is caught out of position, and Scarborough capitalize with a 10 yard strike to go up by one. We continue to pressure, but don’t really get any good chances after that, and Scarborough ends our undefeated streak at 19 with a 0-1 win.

A 0-0 draw by Leigh RMI against Margate is not enough to save their season, and they find themselves relegated along with Forest Green who dropped their game 0-1 against Farnborough. Scarborough ends up being the only playoff team to win and shoot up to 3rd place, one point ahead of Doncaster, 2 points ahead of Barnet, and 3 points up on Margate and Chester.

So the race for the playoffs looks like this. Hereford have clinched 2nd place and will host the 5th place team. Scarborough will claim third with a win or draw against Stevenage. Otherwise, Doncaster can take 3rd, with a win against Margate. Barnet faces Leigh RMI, and a win along with a Scarborough loss and a Doncaster loss will give them 3rd. Margate has to beat Doncaster to make the playoffs, as a draw or loss will not cut it for them. Chester can only make it as high as 4th, and they need a win against Gravesend on top of a Doncaster or Barnet loss.

With 2 games left to go in the Premiership season, Manchester United has won the title. 2nd place falls surprisingly to Everton, followed by Leeds, Newcastle, and Arsenal grabbing the final European spot. Arsenal holds a 17 point advantage over 6th place Chelsea.

[Katon]

Rats! I guess that's what happens when you hopelessly mismanage our offence. Why not give Courtney more starts?

Leigh aside, what happened to Arsenal? They didn't even qualify for the CL!

Good luck in the playoffs.

[klayman]

Gerard Houllier gets the sack from 11th place Liverpool. Being my favorite club and all, I immediately apply for the position of manager with absolutely no chance of getting it. We post losses of £56k again for the month of April, and are shut out of the awards. Hopefully a promotion and FA Trophy should make May a profitable month for us.

Forest Green vs Hereford
A cold gusty day makes for horrible football, and neither teams shows much in the way of offence. Carden thankfully relieves the boredom in the 60th min with his 20th goal of the season for the 1-0 lead. Around the playoff horn, and Chester are 2-1 up on Gravesend giving them 4th spot in the playoffs behind Scarborough, who are holding a 0-0 draw against Stevenage. Scarborough miss a penalty in the 51st min, which would have probably guaranteed them a playoff spot. Barnet are down to 10 men against Leigh, and the 0-0 draw they have so far is only good enough for 6th place, behind Doncaster who are knotted 0-0 with Margate. Our game is pretty much meaningless, so I’m really only watching the out of town scoreboard to see who we will be playing. Barnet score dramatically in the 72nd min, to move into 3rd place, before Doncaster score on the road against Margate in the 78th to jump ahead of them for 3rd place. Chester are up 3-1 on Gravesend, but at this point it doesn’t matter as they need a Doncaster or Barnet loss. Scarborough sit in 5th, and we’ll face them if things stay the same.

In the 89th min, Forest Green get a man sent off, ending any hope of a comeback for them, and we go on to win 1-0. Doncaster hold on for the 1-0 win to secure their 3rd spot, while Barnet add another goal late for the 2-0 win over Leigh to give them 4th. Stevenage score in the stoppage time, bumping Scarborough down to 5th, and Chester is tied with them on points, but need just one more goal to get ahead. They don’t get it, as they finish 3-1 against Gravesend, and Scarborough is in the playoffs by a goal differential of 1.

The final league table is attached.

[klayman]

We lose Mark Rossiter with a twisted knee in training. He’ll miss the playoffs and the FA Trophy final for sure, which isn’t great news.

The Champions League Semi finals get under way, with both home clubs losing 2-0 in the 1st leg. Arsenal was home to FC Bayern, while Juventus fell at home to Inter by the same score.

Hereford vs Scarborough CONFERENCE PLAYOFF Semi-Final 1st leg
We get a nice crowd of 4401 at Edgar Street for the first leg. Foley-Sheridan makes a great tackle and breaks in all alone just 14 seconds in. He tries to beat Scarborough GK Andy Woods, but can’t quite get around him and Woods safely gathers the ball. We continue with the pressure and Svard heads a throw in to Keegan, who strikes it with fury from just inside the area. Woods gets a piece of the ball, but not enough to keep it out of the net, and we have a 1-0 lead early in the 6th min. Scarborough strike back as Teesdale, replacing an injured Rossiter, gets beat in the air just outside the area. Baker makes a great save off the initial shot, but the rebound falls to Scarborough’s David Pounder and he has no trouble finding the net in the 21st min. That all important away goal makes things 1-1, and spells lots of trouble for us. Foley-Sheridan gets a great chance to regain the lead only seconds later, when Christopher Todd feeds him with a long ball, but Foley-Sheridan puts it ever-so-closely over the bar. Things stay that way for almost all of the match, with neither team gaining an advantage. Late in the 82nd min however, we get a freekick off the right side of the area. Carden puts a cross to the far post, and the ball hits someone in front and finds the net in a bizarre fashion…but the assistant has his flag up…Correia pushed a Scarborough player in the area, no goal. Correia makes up for his blunder though, when in the 89th min, Carden finds him with a well place chip pass, and Correia makes no mistake from 12 yards out, to take a 2-1 lead into the 2nd leg.

[klayman]

Scarborough vs Hereford CONFERENCE PLAYOFF Semi-Final 2nd leg 1-2 aggregate
We’re 6-4 favorites, but Scarborough have that damn away goal that we need to get back. Both Todd and Foley-Sheridan are feeling jaded from the last match, but they’re both needed today, so will continue to start. Scarborough swarm us early, and just 3 mins in, Paul Dempsey finds Olivier Brassart in the area. Brassart is so far offside he needs a friggin passport to be there, but nonetheless he volleys the ball into the goal for the 1-0 lead, and the aggregate lead on away goals. We push forward to try to get that away goal back, but nothing comes of it until the 36th min when Svard sends the ball in the area for Guinan, who rounds the GK Andy Woods and squeezes a shot from a tight angle to put us up 3-2 on aggregate. Never mind that Guinan and Carden were offside on the play, cause the assistant didn’t seem to notice. Guess these things even themselves out. Only mins later, Teesdale makes a bonehead pass, easily intercepted by Scarborough and the break in on Mathew Baker. After some nice passing they have what looks like a sure goal, but Baker miraculously gets all the way across the goal mouth to push the ball away. That deflates Scarborough’s attack, and we control the possession for the rest of the match. Correia puts the nail in Scarborough’s coffin with a 90th min strike, and we advance to the final on a 4-2 aggregate.

Both FC Bayern and Inter have no problem advancing the finals of the Champions Cup, as Bayern beat Arsenal at home 2-1 for a 4-1 aggregate win, and Inter forces Juventus to a scoreless draw, advancing on a 2-0 aggregate.

We’ll play Doncaster in the Conference Playoff Final in Britannia Stadium at the end of the month. We’re listed as 9-4 underdogs

[klayman]

Middlesbrough get a goal from Scottish international Barry Nicholson in the 66th min, and hold on to defeat Blackburn 3-2 in the FA Cup final. It’s Middlesbrough’s first ever FA Cup win.

Hereford vs Yeovil FA TROPHY Final
We head into Cardiff for the final at The Millennium Stadium, without Ryan Garry who fractures his wrist in training, and is lost for 3 weeks. Luckily, we get Rossiter back from his injury, and he is fit enough to start. Paul Parry is also back from his lengthy injury, but not in game shape and won’t be in the squad. Yeovil score in the 35th min off a header after dominating the entire 1st half. If not for the heroics of Baker, we’d quickly be out of the game. It is not until the 57th min that we get our first shot on goal, when Carden rounds the keeper and hits the net from a tight angle to equalize. In the 89th, Carden just misses with a header off a Foley-Sheridan corner to send the game into extra time. Correia gets the best chance in extra time, when at the 118th min mark, he gets behind the defense and beats the Yeovil GK, only to see the ball go inches wide of the far post sending the game to penalties. In the penalties, we hit 4 of 6, but miss our last two, and Yeovil nail their last one for a 4-5 penalty win and the FA Trophy.

We get no money for being the runner up for the FA Trophy, which is disappointing, but the attendance of 9745 is a slight boost to our balance. Dinamo Kiev defeat Fenerbahce 2-1 to capture their first UEFA Cup in the other unimportant game in the afternoon.

Doncaster vs Hereford CONFERENCE PLAYOFF Final
10,284 fans show up to see which team will be making it’s return to English League Football. Neither team has any good chances in the 1st half, as both are playing a relatively safe game. In the 2nd half things open up a bit, and Correia sets up MacDonald for the excellent chance from 12 yards out in the 56th min, but Doncaster GK Andy Warrington makes a tremendous save to keep things close. Doncaster’s first chance comes in the 70th min off a corner, but Baker is fantastic getting to the ball off the volley. With a Doncaster player on the sidelines getting treatment, Svard feeds Keegan in the area in the 74th min, and Keegan scores from the 6 yard box to put us up by 1. We sit back and defend for the rest of the way, and Doncaster are held to no more chances, as Hereford United wins promotion into the 3rd Division with a 1-0 win!!!

We grab £100k for our 2nd place finish and will move back into league football next year. With the promotion, we get 11 players that have promotional clauses that are very happy with our performance, and our wage bill has crept now up to £13,252…£3,102 over our budget. We have several players leaving on frees over the summer though, so it should come back down to a reasonable level and hopefully the board will be nice enough to increase it somewhat for our play in the 3rd Division.

Inter win the European Champions Cup in dramatic fashion when Crespo scores in the 87th min to beat FC Bayern and capture the Italian club’s third Champions Cup.

[klayman]

2002-2003 Season Stats
Goalkeepers

Name                       Apps     Con    Cln  Asts   Yel    Red    MoM    Av R
Baker, Matthew              55       33     27    0     0      0      0     7.27
Gayle, Mark                  2(1)     1      2    0     0      0      0     7.00  
Griffiths, Ken               2        0      2    0     0      0      0     8.00

Defenders

Name                       Apps     Gls     Ast     MoM     Yel     Red     AvR
!Clarke, Matthew             0        0       0       0       0       0     0.00
@James, Tony                16        0       0       2       1       0     7.06
Rose, Michael                3(24)    0       0       0       0       0     6.40
Rossiter, Mark              43(11)    0       0       3       4       0     7.03
Teesdale, Richard           22(21)    0       1       0       1       0     6.76
Todd, Christopher           46(3)     0       0       4       3       0     7.24
Tretton, Andy               44(9)     0       2       1       2       0     6.81
Garry, Ryan                  2(8)     0       0       0       0       0     6.50

! - Transfered to Accrington for £1k and Simon Carden
@ - Transfered to Darlington for £10k

Defensive Midfield

Name                       Apps     Gls     Ast     MoM     Yel     Red     AvR
MacDonald, Billy             43       2       4       4       9       0     7.37
Purdie, Robert                3(3)    0       1       0       0       0     6.66
Sawyers, Robert              40(6)    1       5       2       5       0     7.15
Svard, Sebastien             43(2)    0       7       9      13       0     7.44 
Williams, Danny              40(8)    0       3       3      10       0     6.91

Attacking Midfield

Name                       Apps     Gls     Ast     MoM     Yel     Red     AvR
Foley-Sheridan, Michael      45      15      15       3       9       0     7.35

Right Midfield

Name                       Apps     Gls     Ast     MoM     Yel     Red     AvR
Pitman, Jamie                20(9)    2       3       0       4       0      6.75
Smith, Ben                   30(16)   8      10       0       0       0      6.97

Left Midfield

Name                       Apps     Gls     Ast     MoM     Yel     Red     AvR
Parry, Paul                  32(3)    1       6       0       3       0     6.82

Forwards

Name                       Apps     Gls     Ast     MoM     Yel     Red     AvR
Correia, Albano              17(13)  12       7       2       3       0     7.23
#Grant, John                  3(4)    2       1       0       0       0     6.71
Guinan, Steve                21(9)    9       5       1       0       0     7.00
Keegan, Paul                 34(4)   23      10       0       3       0     7.16
$Carden, Simon               38(3)   21       6       5       1       0     7.41

# - Transfered to Darlington for £5k
$ - Transfered from Accrington along with £1k for Matthew Clarke

[klayman]

Other leagues:
Premiership
Champions - Manchester United
Runner ups - Leeds
Relegated - Birmingham, West Ham, Fulham

1st Division
Champions - Leicester
Runner ups - Coventry
Playoff winners - Bradford City
Relegated - Rotherham, Sheff Wed, Stoke

2nd Division
Champions - Bristol City
Runner ups - Wycombe
Playoff Winners - Plymouth
Relegated - Colchester, Peterborough, Swindon, Mansfield

3rd Division
Champions - Hull
Runner ups - Wrexham
3rd place - Bournemouth
Playoff Winners - Oxford
Relegated - Boston United, Darlington

Scottish Premier League
Champions - Rangers
Runner ups - Celtic
Relegated - Partick Thistle

FA Cup - Middlesbrough over Blackburn
League Cup - Chelsea over Liverpool
Community Shield - Arsenal over Liverpool
LD Vans Trophy - Crewe over QPR
FA Trophy - Yeovil over Hereford

Scottish Cup - Rangers over Hearts
League Cup - Dundee Utd over Celtic

[klayman]

The next season is continued in this thread.