Hereford were unable to make it three wins in a row and had to settle for a draw with their bogey team in Tuesday's bottom-of-the-table Third Division battle.

Darlington had won the five previous matches between the clubs and they nearly extended that sequence to six. With a minute left for play Simon Shaw's header looked certain to snatch victory until Dean Smith suddenly popped up to clear off the line.

Previously Hereford's midfielder Carl Beeston, on loan from Stoke City, gave them the lead in the 21st minute with his second goal in two games at Edgar Street. He latched onto a loose ball and the late swerve on his 30- yard drive beat the despairing dive of Darlington's Finnish goalkeeper Teuvo Moilanen, a loan signing from Preston.

Fifteen minutes later former Hereford striker Darren Roberts warded off a hesitant tackle by Trevor Matthewson and Robbie Blake had an easy task in slotting home his low cross for the equaliser. It was perhaps a predictable result as the Quakers are unbeaten in their last eight visits to Hereford with five of those games ending 1-1.

Just before half-time Roberts cut in on the left flank and forced Wood into tipping his angled shot over the bar. After the break Moilanen had to deal with a longer range effort from David Norton in similar fashion but then it was stalemate until Smith saved the day for United.

United director of football Graham Turner said: ''After a good first half we played poorly so in the end I was delighted to pick up a point. ''The irony is we have performed much better against Mansfield, Carlisle and Chester at home, for instance, and lost. But it is important we keep an unbeaten run going at Barnet on Saturday.''

Hereford: Wood, Norton, Smith, Matthewson, Fishlock, Warner, Downing, Beeston, Hargreaves, Adrian Foster (Ian Foster 74 mins), Kottila (Brough 54 mins). Sub not used: Pitman.

Attendance: 2,003.