THE ominous sound of the fat lady clearing her throat echoed around Brisbane Road at 10 minutes to five on Saturday afternoon. As news filtered through from the Goldstone Ground that Brighton had beaten Doncaster, the huge band of travelling Hereford supporters, who had kept up a barrage of unavailing vocal support throughout the game, realised that their team's defeat meant they were in bottom place in the Nationwide Third Div-ision.

Now Hereford must beat Brighton in the final game to preserve their League status but a draw will be sufficient to save the Seagulls who have a superior goal tally. Hereford rarely looked like forcing a victory on Saturday and only when Tony Agana appeared as a second-half substitute did they succeed in finding a way through a solid Orient defence.

Adrian Foster and John Williams hardly managed a worthwhile effort between them all afternoon, but were given little support by a midfield which struggled to provide service from the flanks once Murray Fishlock had limped off with a recurrence of his ankle injury after 28 minutes. Hereford's best effort in the first half came from Chris Hargreaves who flashed a 20-yarder just over after seven minutes.

Orient were hardly more active in creating goal-scoring opportunities but Trevor Wood was called into action twice in the first 10 minutes to save from Peter Garland and Alex Inglethorpe. It was Inglethorpe who put the home side ahead nine minutes into the second half with a goal which had its share of fortune about it. Wood appeared to have blocked Inglethorpe's shot but the ball looped into the air and dipped under the bar into the net.

Nine minutes later United were further behind when Martin Ling netted with an angled drive from the edge of the box. Referee Steve Bennett chose to overrule his linesman, who was flagging to signal another player in an off-side position, to award the goal. Agana forced a fine save from keeper Paul Hyde after 74 minutes with a header from a Brian McGorry free-kick, but got his reward four minutes later when he met Rob Warner's corner- kick to head firmly into the net.

The goal stimulated Hereford to push forward a bit more in an attempt to secure the equaliser but their only real goal attempt was a mishit 30-yarder from John Brough which went well wide.

So in the end it was all in vain. The pain etched on some of the players' faces at the final whistle showed what a huge task awaits them at Edgar Street this Saturday.

Hereford: Wood, Norton, Fishlock (sub Warner 29 mins), Brough, Sandeman, Matthewson, Hargreaves, McGorry, A. Foster, Williams, Turner (sub Agana 57 mins). Sub not used: Debont.

Attendance: 5,599.