Match Report

Mark Yeates was at the heart of the action as Colchester ended their three-game losing streak and finally condemned Hereford to League Two football next season.

The midfielder opened the scoring nine minutes before the break and then forced an own goal to send the visitors on the long trip back to Essex with smiles on their faces.

Yeates was unlucky in the second minute when he seized on a misplaced pass by Kris Taylor and thundered in a shot which beat Peter Gulacsi in the Hereford goal but came back off the post.

It was Hereford who had the better of the earlier attacking but, despite some promising positions, they were never able to test Dean Gerken in the visitors' goal.

As the first half progressed, Colchester began to gain some control over the proceedings and they took the lead on 36 minutes.

Sam Gwynne's push on Akanni-Sunday Wasiu on the corner of the penalty area was punished by a free-kick
and Yeates stepped up to curl a shot past the defensive wall and into the net.

Yeates was the instigator of the second goal six minutes later after whipped in a cross from the right which glanced off the top of Dean Beckwith's head and past the helpless Gulacsi.

An early shot from Jennison Myrie-Williams which flashed just wide of the Colchester goal raised hopes of a Hereford revival, but this failed to materialise as the visitors maintained a stranglehold on the match.

Wasiu came close to adding a third with a neat turn and shot which flew just over the bar and the hard-working Yeates drew a low save from Gulacsi with a fierce drive.

But the Bulls went down with a whimper as their only late effort came from a Beckwith header which was easily saved by Gerken.

Corners

Fouls

Goal attempts

Shots off target

Offsides