A 63RD-MINUTE goal by central defender Ian Wright -- his fourth of the season -- spared Hereford's blushes after lower-graded Hitchin had held the lead for 46 minutes in the second round of the FA Umbro Trophy at Edgar Street on Saturday.

It was the second time in four years that Hitchin, who are lying second in the Ryman League Division 1, have forced a cup replay by drawing at Hereford. In 1994 they finished all square 2-2 in the first round of the FA Cup and went on to win the replay 4-2.

United's territorial superiority was underlined by the fact that the corner count was 15-1 in their favour and Hitchin manager Andy Melvin conceded: ''Hereford were the better side and we've got no complaints about the result.''

Nevertheless, until Wright's strike Hitchin keeper Darren Bonfield was not called on to make a difficult save, while his counterpart Mark Jones brought off two fine stops in the opening eight minutes of the second period to prevent Gary Dixon from extending the visitors' lead.

United director of football Graham Turner said: ''We did not play well and, although we built up a head of steam in the second half, Mark's saves kept us in the tie. So, overall, we were not unhappy with the result.''

The Bulls had three chances to take the lead in the opening 15 minutes. Garry Cook shot into the side-netting with the goal at his mercy, Richard Leadbeater headed over from a good position, and Gavin Williams fired wide of the near post after slipping past two defenders.

The sparse crowd of 1,383, the second lowest at Edgar Street since losing Football League status, was then stunned as in the 17th minute Mark Taylor headed the ball straight into the path of Adam Turner who ran on to power a low drive out of Jones' reach.

At half-time Graham Turner withdrew Chris Lane and skipper Ian Rodgerson reverted to the right-back role with Wayne Dyer filling the midfield vacancy. Bonfield was eventually beaten by Wright who climbed above Hitchin's defence to head home a free-kick from left-back Kevin Collins, who was making his first team debut.

Hitchin were then penned into their own half for long periods but it was not until extra time that the Bulls went close to snatching a winner. Only a fine save by Bonfield kept out Cook's header and, when Wright met Taylor's corner, the ball looked certain to enter the net until the keeper hurled himself to his left to keep it out.

There were two Hereford bookings -- Collins and Williams.

Hereford: Jones, Lane (Dyer 46 min), Evans, Wright, Collins, Rodgerson, Downing, Taylor, Williams (Druce 78 min), Cook, Leadbeater, Subs not used: James, Cross. Quy.