Clayton Donaldson scored his 5th goal of the season just three minutes into the second half at Edgar Street to earn Crewe Alexandra another away point - but the Alex dressing room will feel aggrieved that it wasn't all three after Hereford's controversial opener on 41 minutes. The referee missed such an obvious handball in the build up to Leon Constantine's goal that you have never seen the Crewe players so enraged in their protests.
Crewe managed to release that frustration in the dressing room and show some real character to hit back through Donaldson after some good approach play from Luke Murphy and Shaun Miller.
Both sides did have chance to win it with Pugh missing a couple of sitters for Hereford United but Steven Schumacher came awfully close to securing the points when his drilled shot struck the inside of the Hereford post with just 9 minutes remaining.
Dario Gradi named an unchanged side for the trip to Hereford United for this evening's re-arranged fixture. With young midfielder Chris Clements unable to travel due to illness, Crewe Alexandra only named six substitutes. As expected Crewe's former captain Kenny Lunt was named in the Hereford United starting line-up.
The home side made a promising start to the proceedings at Edgar Street but it didn't take the Railwaymen too long before they settled into their passing rhythm. In the opening exchanges chances were certainly few and far between and it took until the 10th minute for Shaun Miller to register the first effort on target.
The young striker demonstrated some quick feet on the edge of the Hereford penalty area, with a quick turn and shot that forced Adam Bartlett to fumble the shot. Clayton Donaldson tried to pounce on the loose rebound but the assistant instantly raised his flag to rule him offside.
Schumacher also had an early sight at goal after some good approach play involving Simon Walton and Donaldson but on this occasion, Bartlett wasn't tested.
Hereford were a threat with the long ball looking for the height and power of their front two Leon Constantine and Mathieu Manset. Wingers Matt Done and Marc Pugh were also fed possession at every opportunity in the final third but to their credit the centre-halves Danny O'Donnell and Mat Mitchel-King were comfortable both with and without the ball.
Manset made a forceful run into the penalty area on 22 minutes only to be denied at the death by a superb recovery tackle from full-back Matt Tootle, who had to concede a corner in the process.
Lunt was then involved in a spat with Walton and perhaps was lucky to escape a yellow card after flicking his boot out at the Crewe midfielder as he walked past. He was spoken to by the referee but escaped a caution.
Crewe were then incensed when the official allowed play to continue with Danny O'Donnell needing urgent treatment for a head injury after being kicked in the face. It was no wonder the Crewe players raced to the official when the play went dead. O'Donnell had to leave the pitch to have stitches.
Hereford's centre half Darren Jones was also lucky to escape a card after pulling Miller down just as it looked as though his pace would take him through on goal.
The advanced Tootle did clip the top of the crossbar after being picked out wonderfully by his opposite team-mate Brayford but the young left-back had just strayed offside and if he kept it down it wouldn't have counted.
Crewe certainly the most likely side to break the deadlock but the home side had their moments in attack too, with Pugh forcing Steve Phillips into a couple of saves inside a crowded penalty area. His second from Pugh's header was easily the busiest he had been all evening.
At the other end, Miller pulled the trigger following a clever ball from Schumacher but the covering Richard Rose did superbly to apply a necessary block.
Jones tried his luck from 25 yards with an ambitious effort but Phiillips was comfortably behind it.
The first half looked to be slipping in a fairly quiet affair before referee Sarginson made an inexcusable error with four minutes of the half left. How he failed to spot such an obvious handball when Schumacher's pass forward was blatantly blocked by the hand of winger Pugh was beyond the 1,367 inside Edgar Street.
The entire Crewe team appealed for the decision but the referee allowed play to continue and Manset played Constantine in to drill past Phillips. As soon as the ball hit the back of the net, the Crewe players raced to confront the official who had made the mistake. It was so unlike Crewe players to appeal for a decision but the whole stadium had seen it.
The Crewe players continued their protest when the referee blew for half-time with captain Mat Mitchel-King and Schumacher asked to leave the pitch by the stewards. They were that understandably angry.
Hereford could and should have doubled their lead after just 22 seconds of the restart when Pugh went clean through on Phillips' goal only to shoot waywardly wide of the mark. It was a wasted opportunity.
It didn't take Crewe too long to get on level terms. Some fine build up play from Murphy and Miller saw Donaldson nip in and turn home his 5th goal of the season. It was no more than Crewe deserved after going behind in controversial fashion.
Lunt was booked for a pull back on Miller's shirt before the Crewe striker joined him in the referee's notebook for blocking the goalkeeper from clearing the ball up field.
Following an early corner, Crewe survived a mass scramble in front of Steve Phillips goal. Ashley Westwood was well placed to clear a Manset header off the line and then John Brayford showed real desire to throw himself in front of shot.
O'Donnell also did superbly to block a shot from Pugh behind for a corner, as Hereford began to impose some pressure in-and-around the Crewe penalty area.
Miller nearly got through on a couple of occasions only to be caught out by a timely challenge from Jones. The Hereford centre-half was caught out by a wonderfully struck pass from Westwood into the path of the lively Donaldson, that led to his booking after he had tripped the Crewe striker en route to goal.
Mitchel-King, who had been mistake-free, was rather fortunate to get away with a grounded header inside his own six-yard box. Matt Tootle helped him to complete the clearance.
With less than 20 minutes left on the clock, both managers elected to make changes with Byron Moore coming on for Miller and Craig King for Manset.
The game entered a scrappy period and it really could have gone either way. On 76 minutes, the home side should have gone back in front after Constantine had played Pugh in behind Tootle, only to direct his low shot narrowly wide. He should have at least tested Phillips.
Almost immediately at the other end, Murphy had a chance to head the Railwaymen in front but he didn't get enough of a contact from Westwood's accurate cross into the box. A solid touch would have seen the Hereford keeper Adam Bartlett in serious trouble. It was a let off for the Bulls.
With 9 minutes remaining, Schumacher was so unlucky to see his excellent shot hit the inside of the post and bounce clear of danger. Substitute Moore did well in the corner to hound Hereford into a mistake and after Donaldson had found Schumacher, his superb shot beat Bartlett but not the woodwork. It was so unfortunate and deserved better.
In the closing minutes, Carl Martin was handed his Football League debut when replacing Tootle. He was quickly on corner duty with Hereford loading the box.
Neither side could find that winning goal and on the balance of play a draw was probably the right result.
