DELIGHTED Stourport Swifts manager Mark Phillips hailed his players' mental toughness after a stirring start to the Midlands Premier.

The new-look side kicked-off the lead on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Rocester thanks to a brace for Ben Maund.

But Stourport also came through their first big test on Tuesday night when they defeated Hereford FC 2-0 at Walshes Meadow in front of a record attendance of 1,321.

Maund scored from the spot after Nathan Summers had brought down James Baldwin and been sent off.

While the away side pushed for a leveller, Joe Phillips sealed the points in the 83rd minute.

The manager said: "The most pleasing thing for me is the players are buying into our style football.

"Against Rocester I thought we stood up to the physical side very well and earned the right the win the game.

"There was a tremendous atmosphere for the Hereford game but the lads revelled in it.

"Players can either sink or swim in a game like that and to be fair they really enjoyed it.

"Hereford were a very good team and played better with ten men than 11 at times."

Phillips will have to check to see if on-loan Stourbridge pair James Hill and Baldwin will be allowed to play in Saturday's FA Cup extra preliminary round clash at Brocton this weekend (3pm ko).

STOURPORT SWIFTS 2 HEREFORD 0 Stourport Swifts put in a outstanding performance on Tuesday night to beat highly fancied Hereford in front of a record crowd at Walshes Meadow.

Swifts doubled their previous best attendance as over a thousand Hereford fans made the trip after their opening day win over Brocton on Saturday.

1,321 fans crammed in to the Walshes to see a game packed with incident as both sides started strongly. Dominic Richards in the Swifts goal again looked confident, and dealt well with a low free kick from Pablo Haysham. Hereford’s 47 goal top scorer John Mills also looked hungry to add to this seasons tally.

After 39 minutes James Baldwin broke free on the right and was brought down by Hereford defender Nathan Summers to concede a penalty.

Ben Maund stepped up to blast his spot kick high to Harvey Rivers’ right, with Summers red carded for the tackle.

Despite their ten men, Hereford pressed hard for an equaliser after the break, and only some outstanding defending from Willets and Wollacot at the back prevented them getting back on terms.

On the hour Mills was inches away from a Purdie cross, and Richards saved well from Haysham and kept out a fierce header from Mills just inside the post.

With seven minutes left, Joe Phillips raced clear and stepped past two challenges to fire a low left foot shot past Rivers to make it 2-0.

Swifts: Richards,Hanson,Willets,Wollacot,Hyde,Robinson,Hurrell,Hill,Baldwin,Maund,Phillips. Subs: Hickman, Rogers Swifts are away to Brocton on Saturday in the Preliminary Round of the FA Cup, Kick off 3.00 pm Rocester 0 Stourport Swifts 2 Stourport Swifts got a flying start to their Midland League Premier Division campaign on Saturday with a 2 – 0 win at Rocester.

After a competitive but uneventful first half Swifts took control after the break, and after a spell of constant pressure, Ben Maund cut inside on the right side of the box and curled a low left foot shot just inside the post from 16 yards.

Swifts never looked back, and were rewarded again following a mazy run into the box by Baldwin, when the ball fell again to Maund, who made no mistake with a fierce shot into the top corner leaving Froggatt in the Rocester goal with no chance.

Rocester began to wilt in the heat in the last 10 minutes, and only some fine work by Froggatt prevented Joe Phillips and Jack Rogers from adding to the score.

SWIFTS: Richards, Hanson, Willets, Wollacot, Hyde, Hurrell, Robinson, Dean, Hill, Maund, Baldwin. Subs used: Phillips, Bailey Swifts are away to Brockton on Saturday, in the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round, Kick off 3.00pm, and at home to Westfields next Tuesday night, kick off 7.45 pm