Saturday, November 13, 1999

PAUL Parry and Mark Taylor snapped up their first Nationwide Conference goals of the season, each side of a Gavin Williams penalty, as Hereford United beat Northwich Victoria 3-0 at Edgar Street yesterday.

In fact, when midfielder Taylor completed the scoring in the 84th minute it was his first goal for the Bulls since he joined them from Shrewsbury Town in the summer of 1998.

John Cotterill, who substituted for Parry two minutes earlier, set it up as he tried to burst past two Victoria defenders. The ball ran loose to Taylor who powered a 20-yard shot past keeper Lance Key.

Taylor said: "Goals don't come very often for me now, but it's a nice feeling to score. I had time to weigh it up and put the ball where I wanted."

Parry's goal came just two minutes after the kick-off. Rob Elmes flicked Chris Lane's throw-in into the centre of the goalmouth where Key got a hand to the winger's header but could not keep it out.

Elmes and Parry also figured in the move which resulted in United's 77th minute penalty. As Parry latched on to Elmes' pass Wes Simpson brought him down. Simpson was lucky to escape receiving a yellow card, but he was punished by Williams whose rising spot kick gave Key no chance.

The Bulls' victory came after two successive Conference defeats and puts them in ninth place in the table. It coincided with the re-turn of their leading marksman Elmes and Paul Fewings after injury.

United boss Graham Turner said: "Ideally, they could have done with a reserve team outing first, but we had to push them into service and they both worked hard."

Although Northwich have yet to win away in the Conference this season, they had lost only three of their previous 15 games.

They held territorial advantage during periods of the first half without getting much on target. Their best chance fell to Ian Cooke in the 70th minute when his close range header was beaten away by Jones.

The best openings were created by United, however, and just before the interval Key stuck out a foot to divert Parry's shot for a corner, while Fewings' curling drive skipped narrowly wide of the far post.

A few minutes after being hacked down for a penalty Parry retired with a twisted knee, but he should be fit for next Sunday's FA Cup second round tie against Hartlepool at Edgar Street.