HEREFORD United have been handed a home draw in the second round of the FA Trophy.

The Bulls will meet either Hampton & Richmond or Chelmsford City in the last 32 of the competition with the tie to be staged on Saturday, December 15.

Their two potential opponents had been due to replay their first-round tie at Chelmsford on Monday night but the game was washed out by heavy rain and has now been re-scheduled for Monday, December 3. Last Saturday’s clash at Hampton & Richmond ended in a 1-1 draw. Both opponents have featured against United in the past.

Hampton and Richmond visited Edgar Street for a fourth-round Trophy tie in February 2002 when Matt Clarke, Tony James (pen), Gavin Williams and Ian Wright bagged the Bulls’ goals in a 4-0 win in front of a crowd of 1,167.

Chelmsford City’s association with the Bulls goes back even further.

The sides last met at Edgar Street in a Southern League Cup tie in December 1971 when Billy Meadows (2) and Ken Mallender bagged the goals in a 3-1 win with 5,009 present. Six weeks earlier, Meadows had also scored twice with a Tony Gough penalty rounding off the scoring in a 3-0 win for United in the Southern League.

Chelmsford went on to have the last laugh, however, as they pipped the Bulls to the Southern League title.

United, whose season had featured the epic Giantkillers FA Cup run, still found that second place was sufficient to get them elected into the Football League.

l UNITED’S two home matches which had been postponed due to their progress in the FA Cup, have now been rescheduled.

They had been due to meet AFC Telford United on Saturday and Mansfield Town next Tuesday but both matches had to be put back with the FA Cup second-round tie at Cheltenham Town taking place next Monday. Telford will now visit Edgar Street on Tuesday, January 8 with the Mansfield clash now set for Tuesday, January 29.

This means that, after not hosting a single Conference game between October 13 and December 26, United are now due to play seven home Conference matches between Boxing Day and Saturday, February 2.

l THE Bulls’ coffers have received another four-figure boost from a successful Sportsman’s Dinner at the Starlite Rooms.

The sell-out event drew an audience of around 160, who were well entertained by the former Manchester United and England winger Lee Sharpe.

The 40-year-old, who made his first senior start in an Freight Rover Cup tie for Torquay against Hereford in November 1987, recalled his time under Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford. He also touched on his later career as a reality TV star.

Earlier, an auction featuring around a dozen selected items and presided over by Andy Morris, had raised more than £4,000. Executive box tickets for Ascot in February raised in excess of £1,000 while a Giantkillers shirt, donated by Peter Isaac, fetched £600.

A Manchester United shirt, signed by Robin Van Persie, was sold for £500, as was a print of Bulls legend John Charles.

Director Grenville Smith, who had endured a few anxious moments after learning that the two stars of the evening were held up in bad weather and heavy traffic on the M5 - they eventually arrived around 9.30pm - confirmed that the evening had been a big success.

“Our projected profit is £8,146 and we also have the bar takings,” he said. “I am absolutely over the moon - I had hoped for £5,000 but to get more than £8,000 is tremendous.

“Andy Morris extracted every last pound at the auction; I could not believe some of the prices he was getting.”

l THERE are still places available on a coach for Ledbury-based Hereford United fans travelling to Monday’s FA Cup match at Cheltenham Town.

The coach will leave the Market House, Ledbury, at 5.45pm and, to book a seat, call organiser Jeremy Wolfe on (01531) 634387 or 07929 932228.