Pete Beadle has praised his players for staying motivated despite already being crowned champions of the Evo-Stik South Premier.
It was a strong performance from Hereford and Beadle was pleased with the five changes he made to the side that beat Kettering on Saturday.
It was a strong performance from Hereford and Beadle was pleased with the five changes he made to the side that beat Kettering on Saturday.
Speaking to BBC H&W's Keith Hall, Beadle said: "The lads' attitude and application was spot on, really pleased for those that have come in and played a big part again tonight. It was a real solid performance, pitch was lovely and they [Hitchin] set up with a back five so difficult to break down.
"They had lots of possession, but I thought we moved the ball really well, and got the first goal, then they had to come out a little bit then. We said to them at half time just keep doing what you're doing, but can we switch the play a bit quicker to cause them a few problems?
"But it's all down to application and attitude and if that's right then the quality the boys have got will always shine through."
Last year Hereford's form dropped slightly after winning the league, they came back from going a goal down to beat Wantage Town 3-2 before drawing 1-1 with Taunton.
"I'm just really pleased with the players that they're still hungry to win games, they want that clean sheet and I think that's 13/14 clean sheets in our last 16/17 games which is nothing to be sniffed at.
"When you've won the league already, and last year when we won it with six games to go it was difficult for a game or two to get that motivation back, but this year they haven't lost it and they've gone from strength to strength."
Considering Hitchin have had number of games called off due to a waterlogged pitch, including the twice that Hereford were due to travel down, it was a fairly decent playing surface.
Beadle added: "Because they've had so many games called off, they haven't actually played on it. It's been fairly dry when they've played and the manager was saying before the game it was a little bit bobbly, but the rain has done it the world of good.
"It was nice and slick, just the way we like it, it suited us down to the ground. We were really dominant and we thoroughly deserved to win the game and we could've scored a few more goals towards the end. But it was just nice to see that the players have still got the hunger and the desire to succeed and keep winning games.
"For the first time in a lot of weeks I think Will [Puddy] has earned his clean sheet bonus, he's made some terrific saves and done ever so well at the times when they did break through."