DEBUTANT Waide Fairhurst hit a superb double to fire Hereford to an impressive derby triumph at Whaddon Road.

The Doncaster Rovers loan ran-ger was Hereford’s hero with a goal in each half to send the 694 travelling fans in the 3,643 crowd into ecstasy.

Janos Kovacs headed his first goal since the opening day of the season on a memorable afternoon for Jamie Pitman's men.

Fairhurst opened the scoring with a right-foot strike from the edge of the box in the 23rd minute. Stuart Fleetwood laid off a ball forward from Joe Colbeck and Fairhust drilled a low, first-time effort into the net off the inside of Scott Brown’s post.

The 21-year-old sealed Here-ford’s triumph in the 89th minute, turning inside to rifle home a left-foot shot after a slick passing move had cut open the Robins’ defence.

In between Fairhurst’s brace, Kovacs doubled Hereford’s lead with a header in the 51st minute.

Kovacs climbed above Brown to meet Kenny Lunt’s free-kick with a skimming header into the net.

The passionate Hungarian en-joyed his header — he celebrated like a musical conductor as he saluted the Hereford masses behind Brown’s goal.

One over-excited Hereford fan was promptly led out of the ground by two stewards after he ran on to the pitch.

The tall Harry Pell almost bagged his maiden goal for Hereford in the 76th minute but his shot beat Brown and bounced off the foot of the far post.

Cheltenham’s frustrating day was summed up in stoppage time when substitute Theo Lewis side-footed wide with the goal at his mercy.

Many of the home fans had started heading for the exits after Fairhurst put Hereford 3-0 ahead.

Adam Bartlett was back to his best, making several vital saves for Hereford who thoroughly deserved their sixth away win of the campaign.

Bartlett made a crucial close-range parry from Wesley Thomas in the 61st minute and he later pushed out a fizzing drive from Marlon Pack.

Colbeck was at the heart of Hereford’s best moves in the opening 45 minutes and Pell made some driving runs early on.

Fairhurst’s opener came after former Hereford loan player Brian Smikle had missed a sitter for the Robins in the 11th minute.

Bartlett had made an excellent parry from Thomas’ point-blank header and Smikle somehow spooned the ball over the top from eight yards.

In the 37th minute, Jeff Goulding streaked clear of the Hereford defence, but was kept out by an important block from Bartlett.

Earlier, the lively Fairhurst was in the thick of the action after just 20 seconds.

Kovas cleared the ball to Colbeck who slipped the ball into the box and Fairhurst’s shot was scrambled away by two defenders.

A defensive mix-up soon afterwards presented a chance for Fleetwood. But Fleetwood’s low effort from a tight angle was parried by Brown.

Hereford: Bartlett; Green, Kovacs, Rose, Heath; Purdie, Lunt, Pell, Colbeck (Featherstone 90); Fleetwood, Fairhurst (Jervis 90); Subs not used: Stratford, McQuilkin, Preston, Heister, Ngo Baheng.