Hereford were comprehensively beaten 4-0 by League Two side Newport County in this afternoon's behind-closed-doors games.
It was always going to be a test against a side who are well into their pre-season schedule, whereas it was only Hereford's second game.
Bulls boss Josh Gowling named 12 trialists in his 20-man squad, with former Hereford United midfielder James McQuilkin and Connor Parsons, who scored in Tuesday night's 1-1 draw at Wellington, both starting.
Newport opened the scoring in the 12th minute when good work from the right saw Lewis Collins stab the ball home from close range.
The visitors should have doubled their lead just before the half-hour mark but a trialist's header was cleared off the line and onto the bar before Ryan Haynes saw an effort saved. And Newport again hit the woodwork just before the break thanks to a curling shot.
Hereford brought on a trialist goalkeeper for the second half, meaning that question marks remain over Brandon Hall's future at the club.
However, the keeper had to pick the ball out of the back of the net just two minutes into the second half. He fumbled at a free kick, resulting in Ryan Taylor hooking the rebound home. He did redeem himself with a smart save in the 52nd minute, but poor marking by Hereford in the 65th minute led to Newport making it 3-0. A corner was flicked on for the unmarked Saikou Janneh to nod home at the back post.
Hereford had their best effort on goal just a minute later when a trialist's fierce shot produced a smart save, while at the other end Yan Klukowski had to clear under pressure. Newport then made it 4-0 in the 76th minute thanks to a fine finish from a trialist. Six minutes from time, substitutes Demetri Brown and Kyle Finn linked up well for the latter to curl an effort wide for Hereford, but the home side's chances were few and far between and the gulf in class between the two sides told in the end.
It would have been interesting how Hereford would have fared if this was their last match of their pre-season when they would hopefully have had a more settled squad. However, Gowling still would have taken a lot from the game and would have seen more from his trialists in match action. Next up is Stourbridge away on Tuesday.
Hereford: White, Hodgkiss, Grimes, John Lewis, Trialist 1, Trialist 2, Trialist 3, Trialist 4, Trialist 5, Trialist 6, Trialist 7. Subs: Jones, Brown, Finn, Klukowski, Trialist 8, Trialist 9, Trialist 10, Trialist 11, Trialist 12.
Newport: King, Haynes, Baker, Howkinga, Demetriou, Trialist 1, Labadie, Bennett, Collins, Amond, Abrahams. Subs: Townsend, Woodiwiss, Wilmott, Taylor, Trialist 2, Janneh, Trialist 3, Dolan, Sheehan.