SUBSTITUTE Paul Parry marked his return from injury with a fine goal as Hereford United overturned Premiership giants Leicester City at Edgar Street last night in their penultimate pre-season friendly.

Parry had only been on the pitch for five minutes when he picked up the ball 35 yards out, ran at the Foxes' defence, beat two men and directed a pin-point left-footed shot past ex-England keeper Tim Flowers.

The 75th-minute winner countered the disappointment of Hereford fans, as despite Leicester's promises of a full first team squad, there were only a handful of recognised names in the visitors' side.

Goalscoring legend Tony Cottee, Northern Ireland international defender Gerry Taggart and new £1.5m signing Trevor Benjamin were also in the starting line-up, but it was predominantly a reserves' run-out for the Foxes.

Leicester-born midfielder Stuart Wilson, who has made several substitute appearance in the Premiership, was guilty of squandering two good chances early on for the visitors, slicing and blasting over the bar.

Benjamin, signed from Cambridge United, showed some acrobatic skills on 27 minutes when he bicycle-kicked over Scott Cooksey's bar, but from there onwards the Bulls defence silenced the Leicester strike-force.

Club captain Ian Wright was reliably solid and kept Cottee under wraps for most of the match, while summer signing Matt Gardiner partnered his skipper with some aplomb and held off Benjamin's physical presence.

On-trial striker Andy Moran, formerly with Tranmere Rovers, showed potential but fired the Bulls' best opportunity of the first half wide five minutes before the break when a Phil Robinson shot was deflected into his path.

John Snape forced an acrobatic tip-over from Flowers when he made a foray into the Foxes' box 60 seconds into the second period and Moran hit a post seven minutes later with a good snap shot.

Benjamin headed a corner from Lawrie Dudfield over the bar from close range on the hour, before Craig Hanson forced Flowers to parry away his side-footed shot.

Parry replaced Hanson for his first appearance since an ankle injury and quickly emulated his exploits against Leicester in last season's FA Cup tie, before Michael McIndoe sealed the win when he cleared off his own line late on.

HEREFORD: Cooksey, Lane, Clarke (Pitt 82), Robinson (Beale 79), Wright, Gardiner, Hanson (Parry 70), Snape, Elmes, Piearce (Moran 13), McIndoe.