Cheltenham Town 3 Hereford United 1 HEREFORD gave an improved performance but found luck was not on their side in this latest defeat in the Puma Youth Alliance Cup.

The young Bulls fell behind after nine minutes when a corner to the far post was headed back across the goal to be scrambled home.

Then, 24 minutes later, Cheltenham raced forward to extend their lead after a throw-in had been mistakenly given in their favour.

Shortly before the break, Hereford should have had a chance to level the scores when a Tom Cartwright cross was headed down by Craig Jones, only to be blocked by a defender's hand on the line - no penalty was given.

United did reduce arrears, however, shortly after the break when Adam Bendall cracked home from the edge of the area after a James Hancock cross was only half cleared.

Cheltenham regained their two-goal lead on the hour from a corner but, after goalkeeper Daniel Taylor had pulled off a fine save to prevent the home side from scoring again, a fine run ended with Hereford's Stephen Smith shooting against a post only to find no-one following up to convert the rebound.