Evesham United 0 Hereford United 1

ANOTHER win, another clean sheet - but a far from totally convincing performance by the Bulls in their final friendly before the Nationwide Conference season opens, writes Richard Prime.

Hereford's defence, in which Ian Wright and Tony James excelled, gave little away to an Evesham attack which posed few problems, despite an energetic performance from former Worcester City striker Steve Lutz.

In midfield, there was the occasional flash of invention from Danny Williams and second-half substitute Rob Purdie with plenty of energy from Jamie Pitman, but in attack Hereford threatened Adam Moss's goal only rarely as Evesham trialist Matt Gardiner seemed to enjoy renewing combat with some of his old clubmates.

"It was our fourth game in eight days and we became a little lethargic late on," admitted boss Graham Turner. "There weren't many clear cut openings but we had a lot of the play and at times were totally dominant.

"But you need to win and that's what we did in the end."

And it certainly was 'at the end' when Hereford secured their victory as, in the final seconds, substitute John Grant - only on the field for 13 minutes - controlled a cross from Matt Clarke and lashed home a half-volley on the turn.

It was a piece of quality finishing rather out of keeping with what had gone before and promises much for Grant's contribution to the season after he has served out a three-game ban for a sending-off when playing for Northwich Victoria last season. It also brought a smile to director of football Turner's face.

"John Grant might just turn out to be a little bit special," he said.

The best openings in the first half fell to Hereford, who were denied a clear penalty in the 21st minute when Wright was held back in the penalty area.

Rob Sawyers, Michael Rose, Paul Parry and Wright all sent in good efforts but the best chance fell to trialist Steve Guinan who drove narrowly wide in the 43rd minute as an often bad tempered half drew to a close. Five minutes into the second period Matt Baker had to make his only real save when Shaun Pratt's cross picked out James Brown at the far post.

But after that it was mostly Hereford and Parry ought to have done better when he raced on to Andy Tretton's long pass, only to shoot into the side-netting with Guinan well placed.

Parry went close twice more before being withdrawn in favour of Grant who, at last, made the decisive contribution.

Hereford: Baker, Clarke, Rose (Purdie 46 min), Tretton, Wright, James, Pitman, Sawyers, Guinan (Baird 63 min), Williams, Parry (Grant 76 min). Subs not used: Griffiths, Teesdale.

Evesham: Moss, Parmenter, Pendleton, Gardiner, Powell, Jukes (Mullen 78 min), Pratt (Smith 81 min), Bullock, Lutz, James, Brown. Subs not used: Subanda, Sollis, Tovey, Ladek.