HEREFORD United stand on the brink of promotion to League One after beating Wrexham, a win which relegated their old rivals out of the Football League.

Goals from Gary Hooper and Theo Robinson against their North Wales rivals at Edgar Street extended the Bulls' advantage in third place over Rochdale and Stockport to four points.

Against Wrexham, Richard Rose cracked a shot wide before a surging 40-yard run by Matt Done, a United target during the January transfer window, ended with a shot which brought an excellent stop from Wayne Brown.

But the best early opening fell to Hereford after four minutes.

Ben Smith's flick was played by Hooper into the path of Robinson who raced clear of the defence only to slice his shot horribly wide of the target.

But Brown had to come to Hereford's rescue with another brilliant stop on 35 minutes, pushing the ball behind from a snap-shot by Neil Roberts.

The Bulls, however, went back down to the other end to take the lead two minutes before the interval.

A fine pass out of defence by Sammy Igoe was backheeled neatly by Robinson to Hooper who advanced before netting with an angle drive into the corner of the net.

Early in the second period, Robinson raced on to a Smith pass and his shot beat Ward but hit the base of the post and went behind for a goal-kick.

And Hereford's need for a second goal was exemplified when Marc Williams got away from Karl Robinson and forced a fine save by Brown.

Relief arrived for the Bulls on the hour.

Richard Rose's cross from the left was flicked on by Hooper to Robinson who drove a shot under Ward from close range.

Brown produced another excellent save from Michael Proctor in injury time.

But Hereford were content to see the minutes elapse before celebrating the win which sends their old rivals down into the Blue Square Premier.

Earlier that week the Bulls had suffered their sixth home defeat of the season with a 1-0 loss against Peterborough United, with the win sealing their promotion.

Dean Keates' header 29 minutes separated the sides in front of 5,279 people at Edgar Street.

"It was a sloppy goal from our point of view, we switched off and it was a free header from five-yards out of our goal," said centre-back Dean Beckwith following the defeat.

"It is gutting to lose it and it hurts but we are still in third. If we win our last three games it is still in our hands and that is what we have to think of now.

"Peterborough are not second in the league for no reason, they are very good defensively and very good going forward."