HEREFORD FC cruised into the semi-final of the HFA Challenge Cup with a 4-0 victory over Holme Lacy.

Cheered on by the loudest opposition fans Edgar Street has welcomed this season, the villagers frustrated their higher-graded opponents for much of the first half.

Jake Sinclair’s goal after 15 minutes came from one of the few clear chances Hereford created before the interval as the excellent Matt Wargen, at the heart of the Lacy defence, prevented his side dropping too deep.

And the visitors did force Max Harris into making a save on the 20-minute mark. Stuart Mills fired a 25-yard free-kick towards the top corner but his dreams of a Meadow End goal were dashed as the keeper read his thoughts.

However, the second half proved to be one-way traffic and after Jamie Molyneux fired over in the 46th minute, Bradley Williams did double Hereford’s advantage moments later when he tapped home from short range.

And Molyneux soon made it 3-0 minutes later when he capitalised on a goalkeeping mistake by the otherwise excellent Mark Davies.

James Upcott was the one Lacy player who looked to have time on the ball and helped to create one of his side’s few chances of the second half when a good passing move ended at the feet of the industrious Jean-Luc Alvarez but the striker failed to find the target when turning – and shooting – from the edge of the box.

Molyneux scored his second on the hour-mark when he rounded Davies to fire into an empty net before he was withdrawn as part of a triple Hereford substitution.

The final 20 minutes saw Hereford continue to probe and keep Holme Lacy penned into their half of the pitch, but Davies in the away goal ensured the score remained respectable – much to the delight of the travelling Lacy fans.

HFC 4-3-3 Max Hasting; Lewis Clarke, Jamie Edge, Joel Edwards, Adam Davies; Mark Preece (Harry Franklin), Rory Huntbach, Bradley Williams; Jake Sinclair, Tristan Plummer (Greg Preece) and Jamie Molyneux (Matt Mcdonald).

HL 4-5-1 Mark Davies; Sam Calder-Page (Phil Thomas), Matt Wargen, Tom Jenkins, Sean Thomas; Chris Freddi (Rush Brown), James Powell, James Upcott, Stuart Mills, Neil Sheehan; and Jean-Luc Alvarez (Elliot Thomas).