HEREFORD coach Bob Stewart believes strength in depth will be key to the club's ambitions of getting promoted from Midlands 1 West.

The Wyesiders finished third last season having been in the running for a play-off place for a large part of the season.

They started this campaign with two consecutive defeats, but having beaten previous leaders Stratford-upon-Avon last Saturday, confidence has been restored.

"Even though we lost the first two matches, belief is still there and what it has proved to us is that we're now beginning to get strength in dept," said Stewart.

"Instead of having 20 to 22 players in the first team, we've now got about 30 plus and with the youngsters coming through in the next couple of years, promotion is certainly on our radar and that is what we're aiming for.

"Two weeks ago we were winning quite comfortably and just lost concentration.

"We've got a few injuries but that's no excuse.

"The pleasing thing is that the guys who have come into the first team have improved the squad and they learnt from that defeat.

"So in the last 10 to 15 minutes, we kept our discipline well and kept our defensive structure and didn't miss any tackles.

"The forwards have been fantastic in the last two matches and I think the boys who stepped in have been training well and getting up to the pace of the game."

Fellow coach Kieram Hallam added that it was vital Hereford won the match.

"The performance in the first half wasn't the greatest but we definitely picked up in the second half and grounded it out," he said.

"But we needed that because we got to the point that we just needed to win."

Hereford raced into a 6-0 lead after only seven minutes thanks to two fantastic penalty kicks from Dean Powell.

But Stratford were awarded a penalty of their own just three minutes later, which was converted by Nathan Geekie.

The first half half was a scrappy affair, with both sides unable to get a grip on the game.

But pressure by the away side led to them being rewarded with another penalty, again converted by Geekie.

A neatly taken drop-goal by Simon Brain put Stratford ahead for the first time, with another penalty successfully kicked over shortly before half time.

"We're just not playing to the ref at the moment and are giving away a lot of penalties," admitted Hallam.

"It's something we're working on and we just didn't play to the way he wanted us to play."

Three minutes into the second half, Stratford increased their lead to nine points after another Geekie penalty, but Hereford slowly got their way back into the game.

Powell kicked over a penalty after 51 minutes before a long ball to Tom Slater led to a forward drive, with Lewis Jordan being credited with the try.

Powell successfully converted to put Hereford 16-15 ahead before he sealed the win with two more penalties.