AFTER a slightly disappointing start to the season, Hereford are looking to kick on in 2014 and start pushing up the Davis Wood League De Cymru and The Marches Division One table.

With the team currently sitting in 10th position in the league, captain Mark Allen knows the importance of converting performances into results.

“A lot of our performances have been decent compared with last season but we've not quite turned in the results," he said. "We’ve been drawing when we should have been winning or losing by the odd goal when we feel we should have got a point.

"So we are looking to address that now and the good thing for us is that the league is fairly tight so, while we aren’t in a great position at the moment, we are confident of moving up the league.”

Last year finished with a strong home performance in a 2-2 draw against Whitchurch B and so the extended winter break may have come at the wrong time for the Hereford club.

With more than a month between matches, it was crucial to get some competitive game time in to help keep the players in match condition.

And last weekend’s friendly against Ludlow was a key part in preparing for the league re-start, as Allen explained.

“It was a typical game after a break," he said. "Our touch wasn’t great and we looked a bit rusty but we did improve through the game and by the end we looked like ourselves again.

"Games like these are vital, with such a long break, to shake the cobwebs off and get back into it for the second half of the season.”

With both Hereford and Ludlow fielding a mixture of first and second-team players, it was a good opportunity for the second-teamers to impress Allen and to, perhaps, stake a claim for a first-team call-up.

“That is the value of these games," said Allen. "You get to have a good look because, most weeks, we are both playing so you don’t get to see the players but there were some players in that do look decent.

"I thought Mark Griffiths looked really solid today and you’ve always got some of the more experienced players in Steve Alderton and Matt Thomas who can bring you that bit of quality to a side, so if we are struggling then we do have some good cover available to us.”

In the game itself, it was the experienced players who came to the fore as both Thomas and Alderton scored in a very open first half which included a fine penalty save from Hereford keeper Pete Preece, sending the teams in 2-2 at the break.

The second half lacked the pace and flow of the first as the substitutions continued to be rung and neither side created a clear-cut chance until Allen broke free and fired home to give his side a vital morale-boosting win going into the new year fixtures.