HEREFORD FC manager Pete Beadle believes Mark Preece had his best performance in a Bulls shirt tonight.

The former Chippenham Town player started against Tiverton due to Ryan Green being unavailable due to injury.

"He was solid, won every header and didn't make any real mistakes," said Beadle.

"That's what I ask of him every week so why he doesn't do it, I don't know.

"But that was his best performance because he knew he had to play because Ryan wasn't available.

"So now he has set the bar for himself and he's got to maintain it."

Green was eligible to play tonight after serving his suspension, but was unfit.

"Ryan went away on holiday and came back complaining of a twinge in his Achilles," explained Beadle.

"He didn't train on Tuesday so we gave him a rest, but he trained really well on Thursday.

"He had the weekend off to recover so he would be ready for tonight because Mark has a similar problem with his Achilles.

"But this morning I had a text from the physio saying he was struggling and he came here tonight and wasn't fit.

"But sometimes when that happens, you get a reaction from people because I thought Mark Preece gave his best performance since he's been here."

Hereford won the game 1-0 thanks to an 81st minute John Mills penalty and Beadle felt his team deserved the win.

"Defensively and offensively, they were great," said Beadle.

"It just lacked a bit of quality in the final third at times, but I thought we thoroughly deserved to win and to keep a side like Tiverton down to zero corners and one shot is no mean feat.

"I think they were waiting for us to make a mistake, but we didn't and we looked pretty solid throughout."

The penalty came after Pablo Haysham was brought down following good work by James Bowen.

"At first, I didn't think he was going to give it because it looked minimum contact but the referee was adamant," said Beadle.

"We were trying to push James on because they stuck a player on Jimmy because they knew were strong on that side.

"James therefore had plenty of the ball but we were trying to push him on and really drive with some purpose.

"James has got some great quality but him and Jimmy need to improve with balls across the box.

"But the one ball he did slip in was a perfect weight and Pablo took it in his stride."