Hereford swiftly erased the memory of their excellent win against Barrow on Saturday with a desperately poor display at Edgar Street on Tuesday night.

Their Nationwide Conference defeat against mid-table Woking was their ninth at home in all competitions this season and was watched by an unsurprisingly meagre crowd of 1,320, Hereford's lowest since relegation from the Football League two years ago.

It was hard to believe that this was exactly the same side which had played such fine football against Barrow.They looked completely out of sorts, seeming incapable of finding an accurate pass or a goalscoring opportunity.

Hereford did show promise in the opening few minutes when the ever-improving Tony James took a pass from Gary Cook, surged forward on a powerful run and fired in a 25-yard shot which was tipped over by keeper Laurence Batty.

A dangerous Gavin Williams cross was put away for a corner but this good period of United play was brought to a swift end by Woking's decisive goal.

Cook lost the ball on the edge of the Woking penalty area to full-back Rob Hollingdale whose excellent run took him to the edge of the Hereford box. He slipped the ball to Grant Payne who eased inside Chris Lane and beat Andy Quy with an angled drive. After this, Hereford more or less disappeared as an attacking force and it was Woking who carved out further chances. The best of these came eight minutes into the second half when Quy flapped at a Hollingdale cross and the ball landed at the feet of Andy Ellis 10 yards from a gaping goal. Ellis somehow managed to drive his shot into the side-netting.

The sheer ghastliness of Hereford's performance was eventually encapsulated in a second-half goal attempt by on-loan Christian Roberts. The Cardiff City striker's shot for goal was so wildly mis-hit that it found touch some 20 yards from the corner flag, the ball slicing off at 90 degrees from where it should have gone.

An Ian Wright header and a Paul Parry free-kick brought saves from Batty in the last 10 minutes but Hereford ended by gaining from the game exactly what their performance deserved.

Lane picked up a yellow card in the second half for a foul.

Hereford: Quy, Lane (Rodgerson 70 mins), James, Evans, Wright, Cook (Snape 70 mins), Williams, Taylor, Roberts, Cowe, Parry. Sub not used: Cross.