Spartans go down to ninth straight defeat

The loss leaves the Northumbrians as one of four teams at the foot of the table with nine points and on Saturday they face one of their fellow strugglers, Guiseley, at home, in what is a crunch fixture.

After Saturday’s 4-0 reverse at Kettering, Spartans had been hoping to kick-start their season with the visit to Hereford.

They put up a better showing in the first half but trailed to a deflected Ryan McLean shot at the break.

Victory was secured for the home side when Dan Smith lashed a shot into the top corner late in the game.

After the game manager Nelson said: "The lads put a real good shift in after spending a long time on the bus, leaving at 11am.

"Getting done by a deflected goal would have been a hard luck story, but the second goal is another mistake by us.”

Karl Byrne added: “We’ll get out of this, we have more than enough quality.

"We’re not getting the rub of the green at the minute. Every team goes through a bad patch but it will get better.”

After Saturday’s loss, player JJ O’Donnell said: “We haven’t been good enough the last five or six games. It is borderline embarrassing to be honest and the lads in the changing room need to stand up and take responsibility. You can have a go at the manager about tactics and the like, but at the end of the day it is about heart and desire.”