Hereford 1 Viney (og)
Exeter 2 McNichol, Ling 

H-T 0-2

Hereford lost all interest in promotion with their 2-1 home defeat by Exeter

Newman blast for players

Hereford United had nothing to play for when they visited Aldershot for their final Fourth Division match of the campaign this afternoon. At one time they were favourites for the championship and promotion was reckoned to be a foregone conclusion. But injuries to key players and the loss of form by others saw them slip out of the top four until their promotion hopes were finally ended when they entertained Exeter City last Monday.

Manager John Newman claimed: "A lot of people who saw us playing during the first half of the season are astonished that we are not going up. But in the 1st month or so we have played more like a re-election team than promotion candidates.

Everything started to go wrong for Hereford at the start of April when they entertained lowly Rochdale and went down 2-1 ina game they should have won by a hatful of goals.

Since then they have only won three games and collected 11 points out of a possible 33 despite the fact that they had an easier programme of matches than any of their rivals.

Newman has blasted his team for some of their performances and at other times attempted to console them when their efforts have gone unrewarded.

But on the whole he has not been at all happy with the way they have slipped out of the promotion race after such a promising start.

He stated: "I make no apologies for the criticism I have made about players in recent weeks because I think it is important for the game generally.

Attendance 2730