HEREFORD United can have few complaints after their local rivals gained a deserved triumph in the Herefordshire Senior Invitation Cup final.

The well-organised Midland Alliance club matched their more illustrious neighbours over 90 minutes and then took the trophy in the shoot-out.

Hereford, although solid at the back, created little from midfield and the chances they did eke out were either wasted or foundered at the hands of Westfields keeper Jon Pugh who gave a superb display, both during the match and in the shoot-out when he pulled off two crucial saves.

“I’ve only played one pre-season game and only trained twice so I’m very happy with the way it went,” said the former England Blind Football goalkeeper. “You get those games occasionally - every dog has his day, so they say.

“I’ve played in a few big games so I know what it’s all about and this means a lot to Westfields.”

A competitive match brought few early openings for either side.

Westfields, however, lost two players - Aidan Thomas and Zac Sirrell - with knocks in the early stages but this brought an unexpected boost in the arrival of one of the replacements, Dan Polan.

The former Stourport striker stamped his claim for the goal of the season in the 26th minute, racing forward after a Hereford corner had been cleared to smash a dipping shot from 25 yards past Daniel Lloyd-Weston.

A stunning save by Pugh from Chris Sharp preserved the lead but the Bulls were level four minutes later when Jake Harris, a triallist from Newport County, prodded home after Pugh saved but could not hold a shot from Josh O’Keefe.

Substitute Michael Rankine brought another superb save from Pugh in the first minute of the second-half but then missed horribly from a great position 10 minutes later.

Marcus Giglio could have restored the home side’s lead but blazed over from a good position, as did Craig Jones, who gave a solid display in the Fields centre midfield.

Pugh saved again from Rankine but, three minutes from time, Chris Bush wasted a glorious chance to settle matters when he went for power over accuracy and missed badly.

Hereford gained an early advantage in the shoot-out when home skipper Phil Glover shot high over but that was the only Westfields failure from the spot.

Pugh pulled off a diving stop to keep out Bush’s spot-kick and then repeated the trick against Dom Collins to seal a famous win.

“I usually guess but this time I was asking the crowd behind me and they were telling me which way to go,” said the keeper. “So they were lucky twice, I think. The lads played really well against a very good Hereford team who made us run a bit. “But we gave it our all and I think we deserved it in the end for our commitment.

“After the disappointment of coming second last year, it’s important to make a positive start and that sets us up now.

“We won’t get better opposition than that - I think the team we’re playing on Saturday, Continental Star, will be a little worried after seeing that result.”