HARTLEY Wintney’s superb run in the FA Vase came to an end as they were beaten 4-1 by Hereford, one of the favourites to lift the trophy.

A huge effort by many at the Hartley club saw the pitch passed fit for play, for the village side’s first ever fifth round tie.

Strong gusts of wind with rain showers made playing conditions difficult for the teams in front of a sell out crowd of 1,300.

Hartley weathered some initial pressure, but soon forced the visitors to defend a number of set piece situations.

From one of these from the left wing, Liam Eagle was unlucky to see his effort cleared off the line.  

On the 30 minute mark, Hereford’s John Mills managed to get into a good position but shot well wide.

However, three minutes later the visitors took the lead, when dangerous winger Mustapha Bundu cut in from the left and fired a low shot past Craig Atkinson’s right hand.

This was how it remained to the break, as the home side went in 1-0 down.

Hartley had a chance to get level with the first attack of the second half, but Steve Duff’s shot went across the face of the goal. 

Hereford extended their lead on 51 minutes, after a cross from the left found Mike Symons free in front of  goal.

He had time to take a touch, before he scored with a low shot leaving Atkinson no chance.

Ross Cook almost had an instant response for Hartley, after he created space, but shot just past the post.

Hereford made it 3-0 after 54 minutes, when Bundu picked up a pass on the left and like his earlier goal, cut in and fired home. 

Just after the hour mark, Atkinson produced a good stop to deny Mills and two minutes later, Hartley’s Aaron Parfitt saw a good effort deflected past the post at the other end.

The village side opened their account after 69 minutes, as Cook was pushed over on the right edge of the penalty box.

The referee pointed to the spot and Cook stepped up and sent goalkeeper Martyn Horsell the wrong way to make it 3-1.

The game now became an end to end affair as Hartley tried to reduce the lead further. Hereford’s Mills saw his fierce shot from a poor angle well tipped over by Atkinson. 

Then on 75 minutes, there was a flare up when Cook and Ryan Green both put in powerful challenges for the ball.

An altercation followed and at the end of it, Green was shown a straight red card. 

Cook laid injured on the ground for some time, but once back to his feet, he was given his second yellow card of the game and both sides were reduced to 10 men.

Hartley continued to battle away and Adam Everiss saw an effort saved by Horsell and Eagle tested the visiting goalie with a good header shortly afterwards. 

In the fourth minute of added on time, Hereford substitute Joe Tumelty managed a clear run in on Atkinson, but the Hartley goalkeeper did well to block his effort at the expense of a corner.

From the resulting short corner, the visitors managed to fashion a scoring chance which Tumelty netted from a tight angle to complete the 4-1 win.

The victory sets up a home tie for Hereford in the quarter-finals against Camberley.

Meanwhile, Hartley return to league action on Tuesday night, when they entertain Chertsey looking to regain top spot in the Combined Counties League Premier Division.