IT IS THAT time of year so it is not surprising that the Rugby Football Union was pursuing the principle of peace and

IT IS THAT time of year so it is not surprising that the Rugby Football Union was pursuing the principle of peace and goodwill to all clubs yesterday. Oakes' centre from the left prompted a diving header by Graham Fenton, one of the substitutes, which Jones pushed aside with an outstretched palm. The ball ran kindly for Elliott, who had only to sidefoot it past the prostrate keeper from two yards.Leicester City (3-4-1-2) Arphexad; Taggart, Elliott, Gilchrist; Savage, Zagorakis (Campbell, 60), Izzet, Oakes; Gunnlaugsson (Fenton, 69); Walsh (Impey, h-t), Cottee. The towering defender's appearance in attack also had the effect, however, of tempting the home side into launching hopeful high balls rather than trying to play their way through a massed rearguard.Jones' resistance at last ended with 12 minutes remaining when Leicester were down to 10 men after an injury to Impey. Parry beat Savage before crossing and Fewings, taking advantage of a deflection which sent the ball looping into the air, beat Arphexad with a back-header by the near post.The Hereford contingent crowed: "Are you watching, Arsenal?" Leicester's response was to replace Walsh with Andrew Impey and push Arnar Gunnlaugsson up front in a 4-4-2 formation. An overdue sense of urgency invaded their play, and Elliott and Gerry Taggart both had efforts cleared off the line by Mark Taylor and Robin Elmes following Stefan Oakes' 47th-minute corner.As the pressure intensified, Hereford struggled to escape their own half. Tony Cottee was allowed a free header, which Jones watched drift past the upright, and sent another volley thudding into Taylor's back.Izzet also embarked on a surge at the heart of the visitors' back line, whereupon Chris Lane halted him with a textbook tackle.Hereford's centre-backs, Wright and Tony James, bore the brunt of Leicester's siege, which was supplemented by Elliott's height and bulk with barely a third of the second half played.

There was a further scare for Leicester following Paul Gilchrist's weak clearing header midway through the first half. John Snape, the Birmingham electrician who is one of only three part-timers in Hereford's squad, volleyed wide as Pegguy Arphexad scrambled across his goal-line.When Steve Walsh, O'Neill's emergency striker, finally struck Leicester's first shot in earnest after 25 minutes, the ball threatened the executive- box windows more than Jones' goal. Another centre-half, Hereford's Ian Wright, came rather closer to scoring, heading over from Paul Parry's corner.So Hereford were not flattered by their 40th-minute lead. Frank Sinclair, Emile Heskey, Steve Guppy, Neil Lennon and Tim Flowers were all injured, while Darren Eadie was cup-tied. Faced with a makeshift side, Hereford opened as if they believed they could make light of a 98-place disparity in League positions.The non-Leaguers had the ball in the net as early as the 12th minute, but the referee had blown for offside even before Fewings shot. Before then, Fewings, the former Hull striker, had looked set to join Ronnie Radford in the pantheon of Hereford's Cup heroes - hardly what Leicester can have expected after the resolution of their behind-the-scenes strife.Leicester were not helped by a lengthy casualty list. His cross was met by a downward header from Izzet, which shot through the legs of Hereford's farmer-goalkeeper Mark Jones.Jones, who had been indebted to Chris Lane for a goal-line clearance moments earlier, kept Leicester at bay until Elliott stroked his first goal of the season.

Robbie Savage pounced on the loose ball, leading a three-on-one counter- attack, before feeding Tony Cottee on the right. Leicester City 2 Hereford United 1 (aet; score at 90 minutes 1-1) LEICESTER SNATCHED victory, and with it a fourth-round trip to Arsenal, from the jaws of embarrassment in last night's FA Cup third-round replay trailing to Paul Fewings goal for Hereford from late in the first half until Matt Elliott equalised in the 78th minute, the side lying sixth in the Premiership finally squeezed past opponents from half-way down the Nationwide Conference by virtue of Muzzy Izzet's goal 14 minutes into extra time. To compound the disappointment of Hereford's chairman-manager, Graham Turner, Leicester's winner followed a poorly executed corner by his own team. He disappeared straight down the tunnel, just like Tottenham's season.Newcastle United (4-3-1-2): Harper; Barton, Helder (Marcelino h-t), Dabizas, Hughes; Solano, Lee, Speed; Gallacher (Dyer, 65); Ferguson (Ketsbaia, 77), Shearer. Substitutes not used: Given (gk), Glass.Tottenham Hotspur (3-5-2): Walker; Perry Vega, Campbell; Young (Fox, 22, Armstrong, 71), Sherwood, Nielsen, Clemence, Taricco; Ginola (Dominguez, 75), Iversen. Substitutes not used: Gower (gk), Baardsen.Referee: G Poll (Tring)..

He returned with both socks pulled up but it was Newcastle who continued to toil to greater effect.Dyer, a replacement for the tiring Gallacher, made it 4-1 with a neat side-footed finish in the 72nd minute. Shearer added two goals of his own in the final eight minutes - first from the penalty spot after being held by Ramon Vega, then with a header.The loudest cheer of the evening echoed around the ground with 15 minutes left when Ginola's number was held up. He was still on the halfway line complaining about a tackle from Helder when Barton swept up the right flank again and crossed for Duncan Ferguson to sweep in Newcastle's third, after Walker - who had moments earlier denied Shearer with a superb diving save - failed to hold on to the ball.Ginola departed at half-time clutching his left shin-pad, vainly bemoaning his lot to Graham Poll. Six minutes later Ginola cut in from the right and, with one flourish of his left boot, and a considerable deflection off Aaron Hughes, beat Harper from the right fringe of the Newcastle penalty area.By half-time, though, the Newcastle old boy cut a forlorn figure on his former patch. Nolberto Solano hoisted a left-wing corner and Dabizas sent a powerful header crashing past Walker.It was not, however, the decisive knockout blow.

The keeper's save was at least a rare high point for Tottenham, who were struggling to cope with Gallacher's pivotal play in a roving role behind Shearer and Ferguson.George Graham sent on Ruel Fox for Luke Young midway through the first half, presumably in an attempt to give his side some attacking clout, but the twin towers looked to be disappearing from their horizon in the 27th minute. It was a goal of stunning simplicity five minutes into the tie, Warren Barton crossing from deep on the right, Ferguson rising unchallenged to head the ball down on to the six-yard line and Speed firing a first-time shot past Ian Walker.It should have been 2-0 in the tenth minute but Kevin Gallacher, put through on the right by another telling Barton ball, failed to direct his right-foot shot past the charging Walker. The Newcastle captain has refused to respond with a verbal defence in public, though the fact that he lined up last night without a goal in six games suggested he had a point or two to prove.Before Shearer had a chance to make an impression, his team were 1-0 up. His deflected first-half goal was not, however, sufficient to keep Spurs in the FA Cup. The combined goalscoring efforts of Gary Speed, Nikos Dabizas, Duncan Ferguson, Kieron Dyer and Alan Shearer took Newcastle through to a fourth-round tie at home to Sheffield United.It was Ginola himself who provoked the hostility, choosing his address to the Oxford Union last month to accuse Alan Shearer of living on his past reputation. "But the reports that we want to buy him are just fantasy market talk."The transfer could be financed by the sale of the Chilean striker Marcelo Salas and the Italian defender Alessandro Nesta.