Hereford's hopes of extending a sequence of three Vauxhall Conference wins were dashed on Monday when Stevenage became the second club to complete a double over them this season. United will now be aiming to make amends with a victory over the Conference's bottom club, Gateshead, at the International Stadium this Saturday.

United also suffered another setback on Monday when defender Richard Walker was withdrawn with a calf injury in the 10th minute and is likely to be sidelined for a month. The Bulls director of football Graham Turner is making efforts to bring another loan player to Edgar Street, however. He will also be seeking an extension of striker Richard Leadbeater's month's loan from Wolves which expires after the Gateshead match.

United were hoping that Stevenage's minds would be more focused on this Saturday's FA Cup fourth round tie with Newcastle United but it was Hereford who never got to grips with the game. Turner said: ''We gave a very poor display.'' The Bulls top scorer Neil Grayson replaced Walker but he squandered his one chance late in the match, jabbing Leadbeater's near- post cross wide. Tony Agana just cleared the bar with a header but that was the most United could muster in strikes on goal.

The Hertfordshire club opened the scoring in the 20th minute when Gary Crawshaw turned on a Neil Trebble cross and des-patched the ball low into the corner of the net.

In the 57th minute Crawshaw latched on to a badly underhit attempted back pass from Gavin Mahon to slip his shot past Andy Quy and give Stevenage a repeat of their 2-0 victory at Edgar Street in August.

Hereford: Quy, Rodgerson, Fishlock, Pitman (Warner 76 mins), Brough, Walker (Grayson 10 mins), Hargreaves, McGorry, Agana, Leadbeater, Mahon.