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MARGATE (home) 29/03/03 An absolutely outrageous offside decision robbed Hereford of at least a point, as Margate scored a stoppage-time winner at Edgar Street. With Hereford on the attack, possession was conceded, and the ball was played forward. Frenchman Jean-Michel Sigere received the ball and, despite being the only player besides Matt Baker in the Hereford half, the linesman's flag was not raised, and the former Bordeaux striker raced clear before rounding the hapless goalkeeper to seal an unlikely win for the Kent side. Hereford had started the better team, but found themselves two goals down against the run of play after twenty minutes, the second goal being an absolute fluke by Phil Collins. With their first serious attack, Margate won a corner. Baker punched the initial effort away, but it was not cleared properly and Sigere fired home from ten yards. It got worse five minutes later when a long ball released Collins. From forty yards he hammered the ball high up into the air and, with the crowd jeering what they thought was a spectacular miss, he turned around to walk back to the halfway line. However, the ball dropped earlier than anticipated over the head of Baker and into the net. It could have been even worse still, but a Jay Saunders effort was disallowed due to an offside flag. Hereford's two new strikers, on-loan Karl Hawley and Albano Correira were causing plenty of problems for Margate's defence. Before the first goal, Correira beat full-back Paul Lamb for pace before hammering a shot from a narrow angle against the crossbar. The same player had another opportunity, but goalkeeper Phil Smith made the first of several excellent saves when he rushed off his line to block at the feet of the former Bristol City player. Smith's next act was to pull off another fantastic save from a free kick by Paul Parry. The kick had been given for an extremely dubious foul by the referee, the now infamous Mr Kettle. Kettle awarded a similarly dubious kick to Hereford at the start of the second half, for a handball when the ball hit the shoulder of a defender, which Danny Williams scuffed over the bar. United did pull a goal back just before half time, when Parry had a shot from twenty yards. Smith got both hands to it, but could only divert the ball into the top corner of the net. In stoppage time, the Bulls should have pulled level, when Parry's cross was headed inches wide from close range by the lively Correira. The second half was almost completely dominated by the home side, with Margate getting everybody bar Lee Shearer back to defend. Hereford were really trying hard, but a defence well marshalled by Bill Edwards kept them at bay. When they were beaten, goalkeeper Smith was usually on hand to help out, pulling off another good save from a fifteen-yard volley from namesake Ben. He made other good saves from Clarke and Correira. Eventually the pressure told, and substitute Steve Guinan confidently fired home his twelfth goal of the season from eight yards following good work down the right flank by Matt Clarke. With time running out, Guinan beat a defender and cut into the box, only to see his low cross hit the outside of the near post. All the hard work was in vain however, with Sigere sealing the game with his blatantly offside winner, scored when he ventured into the Hereford half of the field for seemingly the only time in the entire second half. With Hereford now seven points behind fifth-place Dagenham, it would seem that the play-off dream is now over. Four defeats in the last five games have proved costly, and now only the most optimistic of fans still believe we can make it. Hereford: Baker, Clarke, Tretton, Wright, Rose, Purdie, Smith, Williams (sub Guinan), Parry, Correira, Hawley. Subs not used: Griffiths, Teesdale, Sawyers, Lambert.
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