Play was moving quite freely as both teams tried to gain the possession and apply pressure. In just the 5th minute the ball came free to Tony Agana who was some 10 yards outside the box. He collected the ball and turned on the spot sending in a low, curling, speculative drive. To the crowds surprise the ball slipped under the diving Mark Smith for the opener.

This really set the Bulls going and play rarely ventured out of Rushden's half. The pressure mounted on Rushden but the referee was making some strange decisions which gave them the chances they needed.

Just seven minutes after his first, Tony Agana struck again when Mark Smith fumbled a cross allowing Agana to just tap it in. The linesman had other ideas though, and judged Agana to have been offside, which none of the fans could really see.

Hereford kept going though and a mere moment later, Brian McGorry latched onto a cross but his header was straight at the keeper who held on to it easily.

The set peice which provided a goal at Northwich showed up again halfway through the half but not quite as successfully. Gavin Mahon hit the free kick from just outside the box, low into the centre where McGorry touched it on for Agana. Unfortunately, Agana was a foot to far forward and missed to connect with the ball.

United's pressure continued as the Rushden defence was repeatedly beaten. McGorry, Agana and Chris Hargreaves all had shots either saved or scrap the woodwork.

Rushden didn't apply any pressure to the United goal until 3 minutes before the break when a surging run down the right wing produced a powerful shot which beat the advancing Andy Quy but hit one of their own forwards in the back to bring the ball back to United.

Just before the whistle, Mark Smith came out to clear a back-pass and Agana rushed him. The assault obviously affected Smith as his clearance was poor enough to allow Hargreaves access to the ball, but Smith played an impressive turn and volley to send the ball looping out of the ground via the Merton Stand.

The second half also started well as McGorry came through onto an Agana play but hit the ball just wide. Three minutes later and Hargreaves made a run on his own and hit an excellent shot from a narrow angle but again Smith made an excellent save to match it.

Rushden then seemed to find themselves and applied continued pressure on Hereford for most of the closing time. During this time, Adrian "Donkey" Foster was brought on to aid the attack, which delighted the home fans as they had been looking forward to baiting him for as long as possible.

I hate to admit that he did make a difference in that Rushden acquired more chances on goal but his finishing was as hopeless as ever. Within the space of 10 minutes Foster had missed wide on both sides of the goal and headed over, all from great positions where it would have been easier to score.

In the dying moments though, a scramble in the United box allowed Darren Collins to drill a shot home through the mass of legs, leaving Andy Quy without a view of the ball until it had almost reached the line, but he was still close to saving it.

In injury time, Richard Walker punished Collins for his goal as he cleared the ball with an extreme amount of power. Collins somehow managed to get his face in the way and immediately crumpled under the pain.

Agana had one last chance on goal before the final whistle but his header went wide from a difficult position.

Altogether a much better performance than was made at Yeovil and I have been told that the standard of play at Gateshead was also greatly improved. A match report for that game will be provided as soon as I can get someone who went to write it for me.