HEREFORD goalkeeper Harvey Rivers has thanked supporters for standing by him following a difficult start to the season.

The former Westfields stopper was criticised by some fans, particularly as he conceded five against Coleshill Town at Edgar Street last month.

It sparked an internet campaign backing the Hereford number one and the keeper says he has been touched by the show of support.

“People are always going to have an opinion, some are going to like you, some are not, but that’s football,” said Rivers. “I try to stay away from reading what’s being said.

“Sometimes it’s not great, but it is really nice to see people coming out and supporting myself and the team as a whole.

“We have had some results that have not been good enough and some of the performances have not been good enough, but we are doing everything we can to put it right.”

Rivers had the luxury of seeing his Hereford team-mates rip Heanor Town apart in the last 10 minutes on Saturday. The Bulls scored four times to thrash the previously unbeaten Derbyshire outfit 7-2.

And with a run of three home games coming up, starting with this Saturday’s encounter against Boldmere St Michaels, Pete Beadle’s men have an ideal opportunity to climb further up the Midland Football League Premier Division table.

“We have obviously been conceding a few goals lately, but we are working massively on our defence and I think it has got a lot better,” added Rivers.

“It was nice to see the goals fly in at the other end and, if you take away the Coleshill and Rocester games, we haven’t conceded a great deal.

“We are always going to score goals when we have got John Mills and Pablo [Haysham] and other players chipping in as well.”

Heanor were down to 10 men for the whole of the second-half after Ryan Booker was sent off for lashing out at Haysham.

But Rivers believes Hereford would still have won the match regardless of their man advantage.

“We are scoring a lot of goals late on because we are a fit bunch of lads,” noted the keeper.

Hereford opened the scoring in the eighth minute when Mills converted from the penalty spot after Haysham was brought down, before Adam Page doubled the advantage on the quarter-hour mark.

Heanor hit back straight away through Kieran Debrouwer, but Mills slotted home his second goal of the game.

The home side again reduced the deficit through Cory Bowler before Booker saw red just before the break.

Heanor had a chance to equalise soon after the restart when Jay Cooper shot just over.

But Mills effectively sealed the game with a second penalty with nine minutes left, before substitute Nathan Hughes added another.

Nick Hall then diverted the ball into his own net after Heanor goalkeeper Jamie Hannis saved from Mills. And there was still time for Hughes to score a seventh goal after he was set up by Carlos Moreira.

MATCH FACTS

Hereford: Rivers, Oates, Edwards, Bonella, Willets, Summers, Wheatley (Hughes 75), Birch, Mills, Haysham, Page (Moreira 90). Subs not used: Kontic-Coveney, Gwynne, Haines.

Heanor: Hannis, Marriott, Shaw, Bettney (Johnson 69), Hall, Booker, Cooper, Naylor, Benger (Gilson 86), Debrouwer, Bowler (Edridge 46). Subs not used: Brown, Whittingham.

Goals: Mills, 8 pen, 0-1, Page, 15, 0-2, Debrouwer, 17, 1-2, Mills, 28, 1-3, Bowler, 37, 2-3, Mills, 81 pen, 2-4, Hughes, 82, 2-5, Hall og, 87, 2-6, Hughes, 90, 2-7.

Bookings: Heanor – Hall, foul, Benger, foul

Red card: Heanor – Booker, violent conduct.

Referee: Kevin Carroll.

Attendance: 402.