FIRST goals of the season from Chris Hargreaves and Ian Rodgerson sent Hereford cruising to victory in their FA Cup fourth qualifying round replay at Edgar Street on Tuesday. Struggling Sittingbourne, near the bottom of the Dr Martens League Premier Division, had sprung something of a surprise by holding Hereford to a 2-2 draw on Saturday.

But there was never a sniff of an upset in the replay as Hargreaves and acting skipper Rodgerson swept The Bulls into a 2-0 lead within the first nine minutes.

When Hargreaves netted again in the 44th minute Sittingbourne's hopes of reaching the first round for the first time in 35 years were over. United director of football Graham Turner said: ''It was nice to watch a game reasonably relaxed. We did a good, professional job but should have scored more goals.''

Hereford were in charge virtually throughout and home keeper Andy de Bont was never called on to make a difficult save.

Within two minutes Hargreaves forced the ball over the line after Andy Hough had blocked shots from Jamie Pitman and Ian Foster.

Seven minutes later Rodgerson made it 2-0 with a shot which deflected off a defender and was shepherded into the net by Foster. Richard Walker then headed against the visitors' woodwork, while Hough brought off good saves to keep out shots from Pitman and Hargreaves at the expense of corners.

In the 44th minute Hough was left stranded by a misplaced back-pass from Kenny Pavey which allowed Harg-reaves to pounce and fire in his second goal. After the break the main focus of interest was whether Hargreaves would notch a hat-trick. He came close: Hough denied him with a brilliant diving save, while late in the game he smashed a vicious 30-yarder against the bar.

Hereford: de Bont, Rodgerson, Brough, Matthews, Walker, Pitman (Williams 89 mins), McGorry, Mahon, Fishlock (Warner 76 min) Hargreaves, Foster (Cook 68 mins).

Attendance: 2,054.