HEREFORD finally brought their dismal run of four defeats to an end with a battling display against the promotion-chasing Dons.

The Bulls have now reached their target of 50 points which, at the start of the season, they believed would be enough to secure their league status for another season.

And with six matches remaining, their tally, which will yet -- hopefully - be boosted by further successes, should indeed be enough to avoid the drop back to the Conference.

On Saturday, manager Gra-ham Turner abandoned the experiment that had seen the Bulls revert to a 3-5-2 formation at Accrington and retur-ned to 4-4-2.

There was, however, only one change in personnel with Phil Gulliver giving way to Alan Connell.

It was Connell who fired in the first shot of the match after two minutes but, unfortunately, it was well wide of the target. Danny Thomas also shot wastefully wide after six minutes after being played in by Connell when Andy Will-iams was much better placed.

Williams was unfortunate, however, on 22 minutes when he cut in from the right and curled a left-foot effort just over the angle of post and bar.

The Dons were not without chances either, though, as the blustery wind and bobbly pitch made things difficult for both sets of players.

Jon-Paul McGovern's 35-yar-der drifted wide while substitute Jude Stirling blazed over from just outside the area.

But on 37 minutes, the visitors did come close to taking the lead when Drissa Diallo's header from Dean Lewing-ton's corner was nodded off the line by Luke Webb.

In the second period, two excellent saves - one at each end - in the space of three minutes went a long way to ensuring that the game would end goalless.

After 55 minutes, Hereford were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the area after a handling offence by Diallo.Thomas stepped up to blast in a shot but Lee Harper was equal to the effort, diving to grasp the ball at the foot of a post.

But Wayne Brown topped that at the other end just minutes later.

Stirling, whose long throws were a considerable threat for the visitors, saw one such effort only half-cleared by the Bulls defence and the ball reached Dons skipper Keith Andrews on the edge of the area.

The midfielder's volley was perfectly struck towards the corner of the net but Brown flew through the air to push the ball away for a corner.

After this, there were further half-chances at both ends but defences ended on top to en-sure that both sides emerged with a share of the spoils.

Hereford: Brown; Travis, Mkandawire, Beckwith, Purdie; Williams, Webb, Smith, Thomas; Guinan, Connell. Subs not used: Thompson, Gulliver, Sills, Palmer, Rose.

Attendance: 2,715.