BEADLE’S JUST ABOUT HAPPY AS BULLS KEEP CHARGING ON
HEREFORD maintained their single-point lead at the head of the division with goals from Lance Smith and Rob Purdie.
The Bulls had to work hard for their win but created the better openings throughout against a side whose play-off hopes are fast evaporating.
Royston were the first to get the ball into the back of the net but the strike on 13 minutes was ruled out for a push by Dan Brathwaite on Bulls goalkeeper Will Puddy.
Smith had some good chances to open the scoring in the early stages, but really should have done better on 19 minutes when he put a cross from Jimmy Oates wide of the target.
With matters remaining relatively even, Royston’s Scott Bridges blazed high and wide after a long throw from Lee Chappell had been headed down.
But Hereford made the breakthrough on 39 minutes when, following a patient build-up, skipper Oates crossed for Smith to head in at the far post.
Just before the break, Keyon Reffell might have added a second but his effort, following a neat Eliot Richards chip, failed to beat keeper Josh Tibbetts from a narrow angle.
Hereford, despite not looking at their best, pushed on in a bid to extend their lead and a useful move ended with Richards blazing over after Reffell’s initial shot had been blocked.
But with something needed from the game to maintain any hopes of the play-offs, Royston had their moments too, and Oates did well to clear a probing cross from Gus Scott-Morriss as the visitors tried to get back into the game.
Hereford kept the upper hand, however, and Reffell and Pablo Haysham both had shots saved as they went in search of the killer second goal.
And the Edgar Street club sealed the points eight minutes from time when Smith’s persistence and willingness to chase a lost cause provided him with the opportunity to roll the ball to Purdie, who marked his 447th appearance in a Hereford shirt with his 58th goal.
Hereford even came close to adding a third goal two minutes into stoppage time when veteran Ryan Green headed Mike Symons through only for the former Gloucester City striker’s effort to come back off a post.
“If you keep on giving a good team like Hereford chance after chance then they are going to take them,” admitted Royston manager Steve Castle.
And opposite number Pete Beadle added: “It was always going to be tough but the boys played well and played with a great deal of purpose.”