The win was The Bulls eighth on the road this season and saw them go nine points clear from the relegation zone. Whats more, Jamie Pitman’s boys also have at least one game in hand on the majority of the teams in League Two including both Barnet and Stockport who are currently in the drop zone.

Both sides came close to opening the scoring particularly Nicky Featherstone who nearly put the Bulls in front when his drive from the edge of the area flew just inches wide moments after the break.

However, with the game heading for stalemate it was Colbeck who became the hero with a stunning shot which flew into the top corner, giving the away team all the points.

After the match Pitman told Radio BBC Hereford & Worcester:

“We held in there in the first half, we came under a bit of pressure, but we stuck to our task and probably had the better chances.

“I don’t think there was a great deal of football played but we worked very hard away from home to get a result.

“Joe (Colbeck) has played well in the last month or so , and he was our threat and he came up with an unbelievable finish.”

Pell has only made six appearances for The Bulls but has impressed manager Jamie Pitman and with recent results going our way, the club has decided to extend the 20-year-old’s deal for another month.

Pell joined Rovers last summer after being released from Charlton Athletic, where he began his career as a young boy.

The news comes during The Bulls preparation for Saturdays big game at Edgar Street, where Hereford will be entertaining third in the league Bury.  Pitman’s side are unbeaten in five but face a Bury team who have won nine times away from home this season, more than any other club in the division. They have also scored more away goals than any other side (34). Having won just two games at Edgar Street this season, The Bulls will have to be at their fighting best to get a positive result from this game.

Stuart Fleetwood came close to opening the scoring for The Bulls before Holt’s header gave the away side the lead. Fairhurst was on hand again for Hereford though, smashing in from close range to earn Pitman’s boys the point. The Cobblers hit the post late-on but both sides will be fairly happy with the point.

The result means The Bulls are now six points from the relegation zone, a dramatic improvement from when they were struggling at the foot of the table at the turn of the year. However, Pitman knows his team are far from safe and the team will need more positive results if they are to starve off the threat of the drop this season.

Their latest victory, a 2-1 win against fellow strugglers Morecambe, came courtesy of Joe Colbeck and Michael Townsend who’s goals either side of the break were enough to see off the Shrimps.

Pitman had the same team available as he did for Saturday’s postponed match at Accrington with Birmingham City loanee Jake Jervis picked to start upfront with Stuart Fleetwood following Mathieu Mansets departure to Reading last week. Jervis made  an immediate impact, setting up Colbeck’s goal to give Hereford the lead going into the break. Morecambe rallied to level in the 53rd minute however, when Stewart Drummond latched on to a mix-up between Hereford goalkeeper Adam Bartlett and Nicky Featherstone to turn the ball into the empty net and equalise for the Shrimps. Skipper Townsend made sure that Morecambe’s joy was short-lived though, when he headed home The Bulls winner on the hour mark to make it five from five and unbeaten in six games.

Pitman told BBC Hereford & Worcester:
“We put in a very good performance, the players worked very hard.

“Defensively we kept our shape, and we were difficult to break down.

“We were very good on the break, and I think we consolidated very well.

“We had good opportunities, and maybe we should have added to our tally” he added.

Mathieu Manset’s effort from a well-worked set-piece after 32 minutes settled the contest. It was the Bulls second FA Cup success in four days and their first ever away win against the Chairboys – avenging the league defeat at the same venue just 16 days earlier on Boxing Day when they lost 2-1.

Pitman praised the performance from his team.  He told BBC Hereford and Worcester: “It was an excellent win against a good Wycombe side, who put us under a lot of pressure. “We defended well and had some early chances that we didn’t take, which we have done in recent weeks. “Full credit to all the players, including those on the bench who worked very hard to keep a clean sheet.”

The Bulls now face Alan Irvine’s Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough in the next round, a team some 42 places above them in the League ladder (Wednesday are seventh in League One). However, Pitman’s men have re-discovered their form and will be hungry for another cup upset.

Centre back James, a former fans favourite at Edgar Street before he left in 2006, is now at Burton Albion but Pitman wants the player to return once more after his impressive displays when he was at the club on loan earlier in the season.

Pitman told BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester: “Tony is the sort of player we would be interested in.

“He has a club at the moment. We have shown Burton we have an interest and it’s up to them to make a decision.”

James made 273 appearances for Hereford between 1998 and 2006, scoring 16 goals.

With Lincoln not featuring,  Stockport went a point further ahead of these two clubs, after their 3-3 thriller at home to Crewe.  Greg Tansey and Clayton Donaldson both scored a brace apiece for their respective clubs.

Morecambe were another side who started the day flirting with relegation but their fears would have been eased slightly after Kieran Charnock’s 27th minute goal gave his side a hard-earned 1-0 win against high-flying Port Vale.

Southend’s 3-1 defeat at Burton Albion saw them slip closer to the danger zone. While Aldershot, who top the bottom eight clubs, slipped to a 1-0 defeat at Rotherham thanks to Adam Le Fondre’s 17th goal of the season

At the top of the table, Chesterfield took full advantage of Port Vale’s slip up as they reclaimed top spot with a 1-0 win at home to Torquay. The Spireites day got even better with the news that Bury had slipped to defeat at Wycombe. Scott Rendell’s second-half strike was enough to give the home side all three points, ending Bury’s six-match unbeaten run.

Meanwhile, Tom Bradshaw’s fortunate 89th minute equaliser preserved Shrewsbury Town’s unbeaten record at home this season following a 1-1 draw with Cheltenham Town which keeps them in the hunt for automatic promotion.

In mid-table. Their were wins for both Northampton and Gillingham. Northampton who seemed to have found some recent form, won 1-0 away at Stevenage, while Gillingham ran out 4-2 winners at Macclesfield, making it three wins on the bounce for Gary Simpson’s men.

Jamie Pitman’s men will have to wait until next Tuesday to battle out the tie, with the a trip to fellow League Two side Wycombe Wanderers the reward for the winners.

This is the second game in the space of four days to be called off because of a frozen pitch, as the Bulls’ home match against Morecambe in the league fell victim to the snow at the weekend.

One of the only games that did go ahead in the league saw Hereford’s relegation rivals Northampton Town and Stockport County go head to head at Sixways. The home side came out 2-0 winners to ease their worries, but Stockport will be looking over their shoulder as a win for Hereford in their game in hand could Pitman’s men just one point behind them. Meanwhile, Barnet, who sit second bottom, lost away at Oxford United, 2-1.

Hereford’s next chance to bridge the gap at the bottom of the football league will be this weekend as they make the trip to Yorkshire to play the former Premier League side,  Bradford City.

Bradford have been in some indifferent form themselves. Whilst at 16th in the table they don’t have the pressure relegation residing over them, Peter Taylor’s side have been in the headlines recently after their club captain, Zesh Rehman recently criticised his manager for being over looked in recent fixtures.

The Pakistan captain has been told he can leave on a free in January after breaking club rules and now finds himself in the middle of a media battle which can only distract the team from matters on the pitch.

It may well be a good time to make the trip to Valley Parade for Hereford. Let’s just hope the snow doesn’t get in the way!

The club has bought back the ground leases and settled a long-term loan of just over a million pounds from Carillion Richardson, the international development group, freeing the club of its debt and placing it in a great position for the future.

Club Chairman David Keyte told the clubs website: “This is a landmark for Hereford United. For the first time in years the club is free of debt and we can now move forward off the pitch to develop the club”

“When we took over in the summer it became very clear that to start building for the future we had to be in control of the leases. This gives us a free run and hopefully will open up some exciting opportunities for both the club and the city,” added Keyte.

During the 1990s, the then board secured the future of The Bulls by taking out two large loans totalling over a million pounds against the leases for the club. The leases then went through the hands of two development companies but those companies have since disappeared and the leases and the loan ended up in the hands of Richardsons Capital, who are joint-venture partners with Carillion.

It is a historic day for the club, its supporters and the people of Hereford and the deal has sealed the long-term future of the club as well as providing the board with more freedom when it comes to making decisions on and off the field.

Vice Chairman Tim Russon told Radio BBC Hereford & Worcester: “We have already had initial talks with the local council and the next step is for us to negotiate new long-term leases,” he said.

“We are looking at 100 years-plus because we need both the security for the football club to play here and then the next step after that is to start looking at ways to redevelop the Blackfriars End.

“We need that long-term lease in order to attract commercial partners who will need that future to be able to invest in the club,” he added.

However, the clubs short-term future has become vitally important and threatens to take some of the gloss of this deal if the situation doesn’t improve soon. Something which Russon is well aware of.  He appreciates that many fans looking at the League Two table might feel this deal is not the main priority but he insists that if United are to flourish in the longer term then this is a vital step: “We care desperately about the plight we are in at the moment and will be doing everything we can to make sure we lift ourselves up the table.

“But we have our future in our hands and we can go out and do something special for this ground and in years to come that will benefit what is on the pitch” he said.

The loss at Lincoln was particularly hard to take as a win against the relegation rivals would have been a huge step to finally pulling away from the drop zone. More disappointing for Pitman would have been the nature of the defeat. Being below par throughout the game, the Bulls somehow managed to find a way back into the game when Stuart Fleetwood made it 2-1. But two minutes later, the two goal lead was restored after Hereford seemingly switched off.

We won’t dwell too much on what happened next at Shrewsbury, but being thrashed by your rivals and then having a player sent off isn’t exactly what Pitman planned.

The FA Cup game against Lincoln though, provided somewhat a turn in fortunes. Admittedly, defensive frailties resulted in the visitors twice being ahead, but at least Hereford were playing well. After recent results, the draw isn’t the worst result in the world. Hereford are notoriously better away from home, and if they can play as well as they did in this game, the Imps certainly won’t be rolling over Pitman’s men again.

With two more deadline-day loan signings on board, the caretaker manager has again reinforced his squad for the short-term at least. Matty Lund has come in from Stoke and former Manchester United trainee Rob Heath went straight into the starting 11 for the FA Cup tie.

The worst is, fingers crossed, over. Rob Purdie has reminded every one of the importance of the next match against Morecambe in the league, with every game becoming even more of a must win.

Consistency is the key for Pitman’s men. And they can start with a first home league win of the season on Saturday.