GUY Ipoua's brilliant strike two minutes into the second period of extra-time finally settled a pulsating Nationwide Conference play-off semi-final second leg and sent more than 5,500 Bulls fans in Edgar Street's biggest crowd of the season into dreamland.

The big Cameroonian produced the sort of quality finish that few others in the Conference can match, surging past two Morecambe defenders before firing an unstoppable 15-yard drive past Morecambe goalkeeper Steven Drench.

It was the kind of finish that a match, which produced some memorable football from the start, more than merited.

There were plenty of nerves on display in the early stages, but Hereford settled the quicker of the two sides and grabbed the lead after just five minutes.

A long free-kick from goalkeeper Wayne Brown flicked off a Morecambe head to earn the first corner of the evening and skipper Tamika Mkandawire timed his run perfectly to thump home a header from Rob Purdie's flag-kick.

Within moments, however, the good work was undone by a moment of madness from full-back Alex Jeannin.

Morecambe launched an attack down the right straight from kick-off and Hereford fans winced as the Frenchman launched himself into a challenge on dangerous winger Garry Thompson.

A penalty was the only possible outcome and Wayne Curtis stepped up to drive the ball past Brown.

But Hereford were soon back in the ascendancy with an excellent strike.

Teenager Andy Williams slipped a pass to Adam Stansfield who made ground on the left before dragging the ball back to Rob Purdie.

The midfielder found Williams who made space brilliantly before firing a low drive past Drench.

Hereford went on to have much the better of the next set of exchanges with Williams often proving an aerial threat. But the best effort came from Simon Travis who let fly with a superb drive from 30 yards which had Drench scrambling across his goal to parry before a defender booted the ball to safety.

Ominously for Hereford, though, Morecambe began to settle towards the interval and the home side did well to survive a dangerous run by Michael Twiss who surged into the penalty area before losing control.

Twiss, another high quality performer and a constant source of danger, was the one who pulled the trigger when the Shrimps got back on level terms again six minutes into the second period.

Hereford failed to deal with a run by Ged Brannan on the right of the penalty area and the ball rebounded to Twiss 18 yards out.

The former Manchester United trainee sparked huge celebrations among the 513 travelling fans as he cracked the ball home.

The Bulls might have thought that their luck was running out at this stage, particularly after what happened two minutes later.

Williams created some danger with a run and cross and after livewire Andy Ferrell's shot had been blocked, the ball came out to Purdie on the edge of the area. He took his time before firing in a drive which thudded against the post.

Morecambe survived the scare and went on to have much the better of possession for the remainder of the 90 minutes, although Brown had few serious alarms to deal with.

Nerves began to jingle again in extra-time and Purdie almost beat the casual Drench to a long kick by Brown right at the end of the first period.

Brown saved superbly from Twiss at the start of the second extra period before Ipoua restored Hereford's lead for the third and final time.

Even then, Stuart Fleetwood should have put the result beyond doubt when he raced clear on to a superb Ferrell pass only to allow Drench to grasp the ball at his feet.