Morecambe 2 Hereford United 2.

TWO-goal Marc Pugh was the Hereford hero as the Bulls grabbed a draw at Christie Park.

Pugh scored the opener six minutes before the break but Hereford old-boy Craig Stanley levelled three minutes later.

Stewart Drummond fired the Shrimps ahead but Pugh struck in the last minute to earn the Bulls a draw.

Hereford boss John Trewick had 10 new faces in his side for the opening game of the season.

The only player remaining from the last game of last term was winger Marc Pugh, then on loan from Shrewsbury, now a full-time member of the Edgar Street set-up.

The other familiar face to Bulls fans was Ryan Green, the play-off final hero, returning to Hereford after three seasons at Bristol Rovers.

Morecambe, while not showing the wholesale changes of their opponents, still had six new faces in their side as they began their final season at Christie Park.

Hereford’s Pugh forced an early free-kick 20 yards out but skipper Keny Lunt’s cross was palmed away by keeper Barry Roche.

Then a swift break from Jonny Godsmark was halted by a good challenge just inside the Morecambe area.

But the first real chance of the opening exchanges came after five minutes when the Shrimps’ Phil Jevons fired in a cross which Michael Twiss could only direct wide of an upright.

An open game saw Leon Constantine moving forward from midfield before unleashing a fierce drive from 25 yards which Roche could only parry away.

The home side suffered a setback after 12 minutes when Fraser McLaughlin limped out of the action with Craig Stanley, a former Bull, replacing him.

It was another Morecambe midfielder, however, Ian Craney, who next had a double taste of the action, firing a drive just over and then seeing a shot well saved by Adam Bartlett.

Bartlett was again in the action moments later, clawing away a close range shot from Jevons after Craney’s cross picked the home forward out.

A late challenge on Godsmark brought Shrimps skipper Danny Adams the first yellow card of the game on 16 minutes.

With Morecambe having slightly the better of the attacking, Stanley drilled a 20-yard shot high over on 20 minutes.

At the other end, a neat build-up found Pugh’s cross headed a couple of yards wide by Constantine.

Twiss, an old adversary of the Bulls from Conference days, was next to try his luck with a 20-yard effort, easily saved by Bartlett.

Constantine almost beat Roche to a short back-pass but the home keeper reached the ball a split-second before the tall striker.

Ryan Green then produced an excellent challenge to deny Stewart Drummond as the midfielder tried to find space in the area.

On 39 minutes, Constantine slipped the ball to Pugh who skipper forward a few yards before drilling a shot into the corner of the net from five yards outside the area.

But the Hereford fans had little time to celebrate before old-boy Stanley received a pass from Twiss and beat Bartlett with a cracking drive from the edge of the area. Pugh drilled a shot just over as Hereford finished the half with a flourish.

Five minutes into the second period, a half-volley from Constantine drew an excellent save from Roche at the expense of a corner.

But the end-to-end nature of the game continued with, almost immediately, Jevons curling a 20-yarder inches wide.

Jevons was close again, moments later, flicking a shot from close range into the sied-netting.

The Morecambe pressure paid off after 57 minutes when Stewart Drummond met a Mark Duffy cross to head past Bartlett.

Hereford introduced substitutes Jamie Tolley and Matt Done in a bid to regain some control.

And Darren Jones produced some unexpected flair with an overhead effort from a corner which flashed just over the Morecambe bar.

Bartlett was lucky on 73 minutes when he could only parry a speculative 30-yard effort from Laurence Wilson and his defence cleared at the expense of a corner with Craney closing in.

Wilson then headed over after a perceptive pass from Craney had opened up the Bulls defence.

Hereford: Bartlett; Green, D Jones, Dennehy, Valentine (Gwynne, 82 min); Godsmark (Tolley, 63 min), Lunt, Southam (Done, 63 min), Pugh; Morris, Constantine. Subs not used: Adamson, Rose, Lowe, C Jones.

Morecambe: Roche, Moss, Adams, Haining; Wilson, Craney, McLaughlin (Stanley, 12 min), Drummond, Duffy; Twiss, Jevons. Subs not used: Davies, Artell, Wainwright, Parrish, McStay, Winters.

Referee: G Eltringham.

Attendance: 2,119 (355 from Hereford).

Goals: Pugh, 39 min, 0-1; Stanley, 42 min, 1-1; Drummond, 58 min, 2-1; Pugh, 90 min, 2-2.

Yellow cards: Morecambe – Adams, foul, 16 min;