Hereford United 3 Westfields 0

HEREFORD confirmed, unsurprisingly, their place at the top of the county football pyramid with a comfortable HFA Senior Floodlit Cup final win over their city rivals.

Fielding largely a reserve side, Hereford still had too much fire-power for their Midland Alliance opponents and Steve Guinan took the opportunity to boost his confidence with a couple of goals.

After a scrappy opening, Hereford took the lead from almost their first attack on 14 minutes.

Evans slipped a pass to MacLeod who took the ball forward before crossing to Guinan to rifle in.

Hereford drew some strength from the goal and Taylor lifted a free-kick over from a dangerous position before Westfields threatened to get back into the game.

Robbie Threlfall had to head an effort from Ashley Day off the line and Jamie Edwards hoisted a shot over from the edge of the area.

The Bulls then began to resume control and Guinan and Palmer each shot over from distance before Taylor added a superb second.

Palmer played a perfectly-weighted pass into the path of the midfielder who chipped his shot delicately over keeper Jon Pugh and into the corner of the net.

Guinan showed his defensive capabilities by heading a Jamie Edwards cross but United striker was in the action at the other end within the first minute of the second period, crashing home a shot after Mark Hibbard had blocked MacLeod's initial effort.

Guinan should have completed his hat-trick on 62 minutes but headed Sam Gwynne's cross wide from a great position.

After that, the pace slackened off for a while and the game began to resemble a training exercise.

But Westfields, if they harboured any hopes of getting back into the game, saw that prospect recede still further on 78 minutes.

Skipper Scott Jackson, who had already been yellow-carded, was shown a straight red for a totally unnecessary elbow on Ryan Burge.

After that, Hereford held on comfortably to retain the trophy for the third season.

Hereford: Esson; Gwynne, Broadhurst, Collins, Threlfall; MacLeod, Burge (Davis, 87 min), Taylor (Thomas, 75 min), Evans; Guinan, Palmer (Walsh, 61 min). Subs not used: Brewer, Harrison.

Westfields: Pugh, Green (Moon, 61 min), Hibbard (Hunt, 65 min), Sparey, Jackson, Day, Cuss, Allam, Aubrey, Hill, Edwards (Prince, 61 min). Subs not used: Jones, Davis.

Referee: Kevin Morris.

Attendance: 261.

Goals: Guinan, 14 min, 1-0; Taylor, 35 min, 2-0; Guinan, 46 min, 3-0.

Red card: Westfields - Jackson, use of elbow, 78 min.

Yellow cards: Hereford - Threlfall, 11 min, foul; Burge, 56 min, foul; Westfields - Jackson, 49 min, foul; Cuss, 56 min, foul.