AFTER taking a one-goal victory over Guiseley, Bulls manager Josh Gowling says he wants to see his side dictate matches.

Lenell John-Lewis first half penalty separated the sides after Tom Owen-Evans was adjudged to have been brought down illegally inside the box.

Guiseley had chances to equalise in the second half but Hereford hung on for their first league win of the season.

“It was a mixed bag,” said Gowling.

“In the first half we controlled the game possession wise, we controlled the game, we got into good pockets and got our goal.

“The second half was more about being resilient away from home, being solid, being hard to break down and we did that well.

“Paul White has let a couple things he shouldn’t have (against Stafford) and today he was excellent, I think he saved one with his nose.

“We’ve still got a long way to go and I wasn’t happy with our second half performance in terms of on the ball because I think we turned the ball over too many times in transition which wasn’t good enough.

“We need to dictate games and getting on the ball and playing in the second half was something I wanted us to do.

“When you’ve got that experience and steel in your team you kind of ride your luck, be solid and be organised and limit them to pretty much nothing which is what we did.

John-Lewis was a surprise addition to the Hereford side after missing the last two matches and it was thought he would miss the tie.

However, Gowling said: “We have to play some games sometimes and we knew he (Lenell John-Lewis) was fit for today.

“The same with Jared (Hodgkiss) and Jake (Wright) we didn’t want to risk them on Tuesday (against Stafford) but we knew the important thing is the league and he came here today and put in a really good shift.”

Guiseley went close inside the opening two minutes when Lebrun Mbeka sent his floated header over clipping the topside of the bar.

The hosts were in again on 10 minutes after Mbeke played through Jonathan Wafula who saw his effort sail over the bar.

However, the Bulls slowly worked their way into the tie and won a 31st minute penalty when Tom Owen-Evans down inside the box after Dan Jones played him in.

John-Lewis kept calm from the penalty spot and slotted his effort down the middle.

Guiseley were struggling to find a way back into the tie during the second half until Gabriel Johnson opened up the defence but Kaine Felix was denied by a last gasp Jake Wright block.

Felix was also influential moments later seeing his effort blocked before Ekpolo saw his effort fly across the face of goal wide.

With 13 minutes remaining Hereford were forced to clear the ball off the line after Paul White missed the initial punch.

And then with five minutes remaining Nathan Newall sent a teasing cross into the box which missed two Guiseley shirts and skipped out of play.

Kyle Finn almost sealed the points controlling a high ball before his rifled shot was tipped over by the goalkeeper but his side hung on.

Hereford: White, Hodgkiss, Haines, Wright, Grimes, A Jones, Owen-Evans, Finn (Digie 90+5), John-Lewis (Mooney 80), Lloyd (Klukowski 83), D Jones

Unused subs: Camwell, McQuilkin