Friday, May 06, 2005
Report: Hereford United (0) 0 - 1 (0) Stevenage Borough (Boro win 2-1 on aggregate) by Andrew Grant
Dino Maamria was the hero once again for Stevenage, as for the second time this season, Boro came away from Hereford with a single goal victory. This time however, it led to Stevenage claiming a place in the play-off final against Carlisle - the biggest game in the history of the club.
Boro started the game with one change after Monday's draw, with the more defensively minded Barry Laker replacing Jon Nurse on the left hand side. It was going to be a nervy night for both sides and that was apparent for Boro in the first minute, when goalkeeper Alan Julian somehow managed to avoid handling outside the area, when he came for a ball that Ronnie Henry was heading back to him. That said, the first half chance fell to Boro, when Dannie Bulman forced his way into the box, but his weak shot was saved by Craig Mawson. The game then meandered along for a bit until the 18th minute, when Mickey Warner's mishit cross for Boro hit the bar with Mawson struggling. However, after that Hereford assumed control for the rest of the half. On 25 minutes, Julian was forced into the first of some quite outstanding saves, when he stretched out a hand to claw away an Adam Stansfield effort. However, Justin Gregory lost the ball and as he stretched to recover the situation, Stansfield went down in the box, the first of two unanswered penalty appeals. Boro were rocking at this stage, and on 31 mins Julian saved well from Craig Stanley twice, though the midfielder will feel that he should have hit the back of net, with only superb goalkeeping denying him twice. On 36 mins, a Mark Robinson free kick only just beat the bar as the last chance to make their pressure count slipped away.
The second half began rather tetchily, with an off the ball incident seeing Anthony Elding booked, and then Andy Tretton of Hereford following him for flattening Elding seconds later. Jason Goodliffe then saw yellow for catching Stansfield late, and from the resulting free kick Tretton headed into Julian's arms. Boro then made a couple of changes as they tried to open the game up. The talismanic George Boyd was introduced for Laker, who had done his job, and Jon Nurse came on for the ineffective Darryn Stamp. Within 5 mins Boro had scored. Nurse and Boyd forced a corner down the right which was taken quickly. From near the touchline Elding unleashed a fierce shot which cannoned back off the bar with Mawson a spectator. Dino Maamria, playing out of position in central midfield reacted quickest to head the ball into the unguarded net to send the travelling fans wild. Suddenly the nerves disappeared for Boro. Where they had been giving the ball away previously, they began to keep it as the energy seemed to drain out from Hereford. For the last twenty minutes, Boro cruised through without a care in the world, and Alan Julian, who had kept Boro in the game earlier on, was a virtual spectator. The final whistle blew to cue scenes of mass jubilation in the stand, that was matched only by those of the players on the pitch.
In the Non League Paper on Friday, Boro were the rank outsiders to progress to the final. Having scraped into the play offs on the last day, they now find themselves 90 minutes from League football. They have given themselves the chance of correcting the wrong of 10 years ago, a chance that if they play well, they will have every chance of taking. Bring on Carlisle!
Boro started the game with one change after Monday's draw, with the more defensively minded Barry Laker replacing Jon Nurse on the left hand side. It was going to be a nervy night for both sides and that was apparent for Boro in the first minute, when goalkeeper Alan Julian somehow managed to avoid handling outside the area, when he came for a ball that Ronnie Henry was heading back to him. That said, the first half chance fell to Boro, when Dannie Bulman forced his way into the box, but his weak shot was saved by Craig Mawson. The game then meandered along for a bit until the 18th minute, when Mickey Warner's mishit cross for Boro hit the bar with Mawson struggling. However, after that Hereford assumed control for the rest of the half. On 25 minutes, Julian was forced into the first of some quite outstanding saves, when he stretched out a hand to claw away an Adam Stansfield effort. However, Justin Gregory lost the ball and as he stretched to recover the situation, Stansfield went down in the box, the first of two unanswered penalty appeals. Boro were rocking at this stage, and on 31 mins Julian saved well from Craig Stanley twice, though the midfielder will feel that he should have hit the back of net, with only superb goalkeeping denying him twice. On 36 mins, a Mark Robinson free kick only just beat the bar as the last chance to make their pressure count slipped away.
The second half began rather tetchily, with an off the ball incident seeing Anthony Elding booked, and then Andy Tretton of Hereford following him for flattening Elding seconds later. Jason Goodliffe then saw yellow for catching Stansfield late, and from the resulting free kick Tretton headed into Julian's arms. Boro then made a couple of changes as they tried to open the game up. The talismanic George Boyd was introduced for Laker, who had done his job, and Jon Nurse came on for the ineffective Darryn Stamp. Within 5 mins Boro had scored. Nurse and Boyd forced a corner down the right which was taken quickly. From near the touchline Elding unleashed a fierce shot which cannoned back off the bar with Mawson a spectator. Dino Maamria, playing out of position in central midfield reacted quickest to head the ball into the unguarded net to send the travelling fans wild. Suddenly the nerves disappeared for Boro. Where they had been giving the ball away previously, they began to keep it as the energy seemed to drain out from Hereford. For the last twenty minutes, Boro cruised through without a care in the world, and Alan Julian, who had kept Boro in the game earlier on, was a virtual spectator. The final whistle blew to cue scenes of mass jubilation in the stand, that was matched only by those of the players on the pitch.
In the Non League Paper on Friday, Boro were the rank outsiders to progress to the final. Having scraped into the play offs on the last day, they now find themselves 90 minutes from League football. They have given themselves the chance of correcting the wrong of 10 years ago, a chance that if they play well, they will have every chance of taking. Bring on Carlisle!
