Gary Hooper's strike kept Hereford's hopes of automatic promotion alive as they beat fellow hopefuls Darlington 1-0 in a poor game.Darlington had two penalty appeals turned down in the first half as, in the 30th minute, Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu went down after a challenge from Hereford captain Karl Broadhurst and then four minutes later Clint Easton appeared to foul former Bulls man Rob Purdie.

But the breakthrough came in the 69th minute when Hooper burst into the area and although his first shot was palmed away by David Stockdale, Hooper picked up the rebound and kept his nerve to firstly take the ball around Stockdale and then fire high into the roof of the net from eight yards out.

The goal proved enough to settle the game and now Darlington, who looked certainties for promotion at the turn of the year, may fail to even make the play-offs unless they can turn around a run that has seen them win only one of their last nine games.

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