Match Information
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Hereford Lads Club 3-5 Lydney Town
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When: Saturday 1st April 2023
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Kick-off: 3pm
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Where: County Ground, Widemarsh Common, Grandstand Road, Hereford, Herefordshire HR4 9NA
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Competition: Hellenic League Premier Division
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Attendance: 122
Whenever anyone mentions “Hereford”, football people everywhere immediately think of that momentous 35 yard strike by Ronnie Radford.
It was part of Hereford United’s fabulous 2-1 home FA Cup Third Round Replay victory as a Southern League outfit over top flight Newcastle United in February 1972. I can still visualise hundreds of small boys wearing parka coats cavorting on to the pitch in jubilation.
Hereford itself is the county town of Herefordshire housing a population of 53,000. I had previously been there three times in the past for football.
The earliest occasion was on 19th August 1978 when Hereford United drew 0-0 with Wigan Athletic at Edgar Street (attendance 5,674). This was Wigan’s first ever Football League match having been elected into Division Four.
I returned on 27th December 2003 for another historic event where Westfields FC played the inaugural Midland Alliance league match at their newly opened Moor House ground. This ended in a 1-0 defeat against Chasetown (attendance 179).
Then I ventured to Hereford once more on 27th August 2006 to watch Pegasus Juniors 0 Shortwood United 4 in the Hellenic League Premier Division at Old School Lane (attendance 272).
Bringing the story up to date, I had been noticing Hereford Lads Club’s progress to the Hellenic Premier at Step 5 of the national Non-League Pyramid in recent years so I decided to pay them a visit.
After setting off on my 320 mile round trip, I sailed through the initial two hours of motorway driving but the last 30 miles into Hereford always takes a good hour due to the lack of dual carriageway.
Incidentally, Hereford Lads Club were founded in 1925 for local under-privileged youngsters focusing on boxing and gymnastics to begin with. An adult football section was later added.
Nowadays, the club proudly maintain their original traditions in running 24 youth football sides for boys and girls aged from eight up to 18 years in the Herefordshire Junior League as well as their senior teams.
Opponents for my fixture of choice were Lydney Town who I recall received sympathetic media coverage concerning an extremely sad story at their home match versus Brackley Town back in September 1981 which was staged in thundery conditions.
Suddenly a bolt of lightning hit the pitch, all the players fell to the ground and Brackley defender Andy Thompson subsequently died of irreversible brain damage following cardiac arrest.
Ground Description
Formerly owned by Hereford Lads Club, it is now the Herefordshire County FA ground incorporating a 3G artificial pitch.
There are two seated stands catering for 150 spectators plus additional covered standing for 50 fans.
Programme Details
On sale priced £1 from the helpful ladies at the entry turnstile. Professionally produced containing 12 pages of editorial, statistics, line-ups and the respective club histories.
The Match
Both sides were in the lower half of the Hellenic Premier table and didn’t want to get sucked into a relegation battle. And it turned out to be an enjoyable eight goal thriller.
The scorers for Hereford Lads Club were Matt Williams (3 minutes) and Brandon Jennings two (66, 77 mins). But five goals by Lydney Town shaded matters through Jarred Liddington two (13, 26 minutes), Jaheim Allen (42 mins), Lewis Thompson (64 mins) and Lucas Vaughan (90+8 mins).
That is not the full story though! A major turning point occurred during an incredible passage of action three minutes before half-time.
Hereford Lads Club were 2-1 down when their attacking intent saw Matt Williams’ powerful shot beat the keeper, hit a lower stanchion inside the portable goal and bounce out again. (Video evidence on Twitter later proved this is exactly what happened.)
42’ undeserved goal for the visitors after we are wrongly not allowed a goal as shown in the video below. 1-3. pic.twitter.com/TawyNb7iuo
— Hereford Lads Club FC (@HfdLadsClubFc) April 1, 2023
However, the referee ruled the ball struck the left hand post and waved play on.
Lydney immediately went straight down the other end of the pitch where Jaheim Allen netted their third goal 30 seconds later.
No criticism from me because it is always a tough job for match officials with things happening so quickly in real time. Even so, this significant incident definitely affected the outcome of a very tight contest.
The People
Danny Moon was really helpful in confirming the fixture for me via Twitter direct message.
Danny has been involved at Hereford Lads Club for 27 years and is currently chairman, treasurer, admin, secretary, kit man, coach and manager.
In fact, he is one of the great army of volunteers keeping Non-League football ticking over across the land. Danny even went on as a substitute for the last 10 minutes of this match and gave a wholehearted centre-forward display at the ripe old age of 41.
*Credit for photos in this article belongs to @TonyIncenzo*
