PA Report

Hereford United had to endure more than the odd scare before completing a victory which took them up to second place in the table.

Goals from Theo Robinson and Trevor Benjamin secured the win, but the Bulls defence had to work hard to secure the points.

Mansfield looked the livelier side in the early stages and the dangerous Michael Boulding lifted a couple of long-range shots over in the first ten minutes. Boulding was then denied by a timely tackle by Hereford skipper Karl Broadhurst as he raced into the area.

The Bulls attack was strangely subdued and their only real attempt on goal in the first 20 minutes came from Toumani Diagouraga, who blazed wide after powering into the penalty area.

But United made the breakthrough on 25 minutes when Robinson raced on to a neat pass from Lionel Ainsworth and rounded a defender before slipping a shot past Carl Muggleton and into the corner of the net.

Three minutes later, the sides could easily have been level when Boulding curled a shot towards the top corner only for the diving Wayne Brown to claw the ball away for a corner.

Boulding somehow managed to slice the ball over an open goal on 32 minutes as the visitors continued to carve out chances.

Three minutes into the second period however, the Bulls pulled further away. Ainsworth raced away down the right and delivered a perfect cross for Benjamin to power in a header.

But rather than collapsing at this point, Mansfield as befits a side that had scored five times on Saturday, staged a revival.

On 66 minutes a brilliant save by Brown kept out Stephen Dawson's powerful drive and Boulding followed up to score.

Then Brown did brilliantly to tip a shot from Lee Bell onto a post and behind for a corner.

After that, it was very much one-way traffic with Mansfield doing all the pressing, but Hereford held on for three important points.