A PENALTY from Nick Chadwick gave Hereford a half-time advantage in their League 1 clash with Scunthorpe United at Edgar Street.

Scunthorpe made a promising start and Cliff Byrne headed just over from an early corner.

Hereford’s defence were certainly being kept on their toes in the early stages and full-back Richard Jackson cleared another effort off the line.

One Scunthorpe player that Hereford knew all about was former Bulls loanee Gary Hooper but United presented the striker with a great chance to open the scoring.

On 15 minutes, Hooper raced in to intercept when Dean Beckwith’s back pass fell short but goalkeeper Darren Randolph was quickly off his line to block.

Hereford were gradually beginning to put some moves together and took the lead after 22 minutes.

Matt Done raced into the penalty area in pursuit of a long pass and was crudely brought down by Izzy Iriekpen’s high challenge.

Chadwick did not waste his chance of a debut goal by converting from the spot.

Hereford largely controlled Scunthorpe’s attempts to respond in the next phase although Martyn Woolford went close with a fierce drive from the edge of the area.

Hooper again demonstrated his threat in first-half injury-time when he got to the bye-line and dragged the ball across goal without anyone able to get a touch.