Hereford 1, Chorley 1: Harvey Smith's late goal earns a vital point

Until the central defender’s late intervention the Magpies had looked second best against a buoyant Bulls outfit on a bitterly cold evening at Edgar Street.

Spritely winger Ryan McLean was thwarted by a great Matt Urwin interception on 30 minutes, after the opening exchanges had failed to produced any goal mouth action of note.

And although Jon Ustabaşı respond by testing Dale Eve in the home goal a minute later, it was Kane Thompson-Sommers who wasted the best chance of the half, striking a Chorley post off a corner before hitting the rebound straight at Urwin.

Hereford’s command of the game increased in the second half and the pressure eventually told on 62 minutes. James Melhado’s cross finished off at the second attempt by Coventry City loanee Marco Rus, after Urwin repelled the Romanian’s initial effort from close in.

That appeared to be that as the Magpies struggled to create anything meaningful with time ticking down.

That was until a 94th minute corner from Adam Blakeman found an unmarked Smith seven yards out, and with a flick of his head the visitors had a game-defining leveller.

Hereford Eve; Evans, Haines (c), Thompson-Sommers, McLean (Dinanga, 79′), Hanson, Barnett, Holmes (Pendley, 90’+3), Thompson, Melhado (Latty-Fairweather, 68′), Rus. Subs not used: Pinchard, Storey.

Chorley Urwin (c); Henley (Owens, 69′), Smith, Wilson, Whitehouse, Calveley, Tomlinson, Ustabaşı, Shenton (Johnson, 69′), Blakeman, Hall. Subs not used: Nolan, Okome, Barry.

Attendance 1,110