Hereford'S bid to regain contact with the promotion hopefuls floundered at Springfield Park against high-flying rivals. Although Hereford gave as good as they got in the mid-field battle, and could even be said to have shaded the first half, they were found wanting in the penalty area where the Latics' expensive strike force of Graeme Jones and Andy Saville gave them a conclusive lesson in finishing.

United, fielding the same starting line-up for the sixth time, did make one change on the bench where Finnish trialist Mika Kottila was included for the first time. The tall striker made a brief appearance towards the end of the game but did not see enough of the ball to have any impact.

It was another Hereford substitute, Phil Preedy, who grabbed the United goal, firing home from 15 yards after John Brough had bustled his way past Colin Greenall. But this only served to reduce the deficit to 3-1 after 69 minutes and never looked like providing the spur for a major Bulls' fight-back. Hereford made the early running and nearly took the lead after 11 minutes when top scorer Adrian Foster headed a David Norton centre against the bar, but it was Wigan who went in front four minutes later. Although Dean Smith was quick to close down Jones, the striker's deflected shot found Roberto Martinez and the Spaniard, Wigan's top scorer last season, waltzed around Andy DeBont to notch his first goal of the campaign.

A crass error by DeBont two minutes before the interval meant that United went in two goals adrift. The keeper's attempt at a quick, short goal-kick was anticipated by Saville who nipped in to intercept and squared the ball for Jones, the section's leading marksman, to claim his 14th goal of the season.

In the second half DeBont made two good saves from Saville to prevent the latest £100,000 signing from opening his Wigan account. But, in between, skipper Greenall rose to head the third goal from a Gavin Johnson free-kick.

Nine minutes after Preedy's goal, Jones sent Saville away and, although DeBont blocked his first effort, the striker seized on the rebound and completed the scoring. Gareth Stoker and Micky Forsyth received yellow cards for Hereford.

Hereford: DeBont, Norton, Matthewson, Smith, Law, Forsyth, Cook (sub Preedy 63 mins), Stoker, Foster, Hargreaves, Brough (sub Kottila 76 mins). Sub not used: Hibbard.

Attendance: 3,414.