Hereford United 1 Darlington 1 A FINE headed goal from skipper Tamika Mkandawire earned the Bulls a welcome point against their North-East visitors at Edgar Street.

But the Bulls will be thinking that all three should have been theirs for the taking after they squandered two great chances in the final five minutes.

At the heart of the late action was midfielder John Eustace who made a good impression on his debut after arriving on a month's loan from Stoke City.

The 26-year-old opened up the Quakers' defence with a perfectly-placed free-kick to allow Mkandawire to head home on 70 minutes.

Then an inch-perfect pass set Stuart Fleetwood racing through on goal, only for the striker, who is now without a goal in two months, to fire narrowly wide of an upright.

Undeterred, Eustace produced another superb pass within a minute to put Andy Williams in the clear. But, with goalkeeper Sam Russell racing off his line, the young striker snatched at his chance and allowed the Quakers keeper to block the ball to safety.

It had been Eustace who set up Williams with a chance to give Hereford the boost of a welcome early goal when he set last season's top-scorer away with another perceptive pass on eight minutes.

Williams raced 50 yards but then thrashed his shot across goal and wide with colleagues probably better placed in the centre.

Eustace himself had a shot blocked shortly afterwards but it was Darlington who went on to have the better of the first period, although their goal, when it arrived had an element of fortune about it.

Martin Smith produced an excellent run down the left before pulling the ball back for Brian Close whose drive was superbly saved by Wayne Brown in the Hereford goal.

Unfortunately for Hereford, however, the ball ricocheted to veteran Alun Armstrong who fired home.

Darlington almost increased their lead within two minutes of the start of the second period.

Neil Wainwright worked his way into the area and rounded Brown but his shot was booted clear from the goalline by Mkandawire.

Hereford heeded the warning and began to produce some much better play which ultimately brought their deserved equaliser.

Their late wastefulness was almost punished, though, when Brown had to pull off an excellent save from David Rowson's low drive and Evan Horwood's shot flashed across the goal and inches wide.

Hereford: Brown; Beckwith, Mkandawire, Giles (Gulliver, 32 min); McClenahan, Eustace, Rose, Travis; Purdie (Connell, 63 min); Williams, Fleetwood. Subs not used: Thompson, Webb.

Attendance: 2,838