WHEN Forest Green Rovers run out for the FA Umbro Trophy final with Canvey Island at Villa Park tomorrow, there will be many Hereford United fans sitting at home thinking: "It should have been us."

But the Bulls' disastrous semi-final defeat at Edgar Street summed up their 2000-01 season in a nutshell -- they promised much but ultimately fell just short of delivering.

Director of Football Graham Turner ad-mitted: "If you look at the season as a whole you would say it was disappointing.

"Having got so far in the Trophy, it was a severe blow to be knocked out in the semi-final. The league dropped off at the back end of the season and the sale of Chris Lane and Michael McIndoe had an adverse effect on the team. Not only did we lose their quality but it knocked back one or two of the other players as well.

"Once again we played better against the better sides, and defensively apart from the last game we weren't too bad and compared favourably with the top two.

"The main difference was that we didn't score enough goals. We need another 20 goals in the team to be able to challenge."

The Bulls spent a large proportion of the season in third place although never close enough to challenge the top two, Yeovil and Rushden and Diamonds.

But failure to get results at home, where they won only six times, sentenced them to a final position of 11th and no place in next season's LDV Vans Trophy.

Once again financial constraints - not helped by an early FA Cup exit - forced them to sell players, with Lane (Southport) and McIndoe (Yeovil) having to fly the nest.

But they could marvel at the continued progress of exciting striker Gavin Williams, while younger players such as Jimmy Quiggin and John Shirley both shone as the season wore on.

Williams and goalkeeper Scott Cooksey also gained international recognition, with Cooksey becoming the first Bulls player to turn out for the England non-league side.