HEREFORD interim manager Josh Gowling said a change of formation ‘upset’ York City allowing his side to steal an early lead during their 4-1 victory.

Kelsey Mooney gave Hereford the lead after just four minutes before Lenell John-Lewis headed home a second.

Despite York pulling a goal back on the 28th minute second half goals from Jason Pope and John-Lewis secured a memorable away win, the first in five months.

“It was a good result and a good performance from the boys,” said Gowling.

“It has been coming with the work we’ve been doing over the weeks a result like that has been coming.

“I’m just really proud of the boys and get a performance like that and to get the win.  We changed the formation as we wanted to get a bit more width, they were thinking that we’d come and play 4-3-3 so changed it up and went 4-4-2.

“I think that upset them a bit and we got ball wide. Kyle Finn was excellent in that first half getting balls in and running at their full-backs.

“Lenny (Lenell John-Lewis) was holding the ball up so we could get up the pitch and then play. Those lads really made a difference.

“They (York) got on top again in the second half so we changed the formation again and the lads really took it on board.

“We got back to our fundamentals, winning them second ball and just that high press. The lads carried on going and ran themselves into the ground.

“I was disappointed with the goal as we sat deep again after going 2-0 up and that’s not what we want to do, added Gowling.

“There’s a lot of things we still need to work on and I’ve said that to the boys. Sometimes you’ve got to be brave and push up.

“I spoke to them at half-time and to be fair to them we got the third goal and then pressed them again and kept on going. We showed that resilience so there’s a lot to work on.

“Tommy O’Sullivan gets some stick sometimes but I brought him on in the second half and he changed the game for us.

“He got the ball down and played, he slowed the ball down when he needed to and kept the ball moving.

York had a host of chances to pull the Bulls back throughout the game and thought they had scored to make it 3-2, only for Brandon Hall to stop the ball on the goal-line.

“I thought it was in, but his reactions and Brandon is a great goalkeeper, added Gowling.

“He had an unfortunate one the other day (against Altrincham) but he’s put it right today.

“The back four stood strong against a physical side and they’re a real credit. We road our luck a little bit, but I think sometimes when you don’t get the rub of the green it evens itself out over the course of the season.

“To a man we were a real credit to the football club. I’ve said it before we don’t respect anyone and we need to get results, get points on the board and get targets we need to hit.

“We didn’t come here thinking that we were playing top of the league but came thinking that we were the best team here and that’s how the lads played.

“We’ve had some good performances and that’s our first win, but that’s one result.  We’ve got to go again and replicate that and then push on to meet our targets,

“It is a good result and I’m happy with the result, but there is a lot of things we need to work on.  

“It was great for the away fans to see a performance like that from the club as I know there hasn’t been many wins this season and it’s nice for them to see that.”

John-Lewis put in a star performance for the Bulls and was denied his second by a fingertip save before rifling home moments later.

“I brought Lenny (Lenell John-Lewis) in for a reason and that was the reason,” added Gowling.

“These are the games that he thrives in, he’s a big game player, held the ball up, occupied their back four and got us involved.

“He got two goals and just brought that experience to the squad. At this level he’s just a handful and people can’t live with him.”