An excellent start was made to the 2003–04 season with the club heading the table in the first part of the season, before three costly defeats and the distraction of cup competitions eroded the advantage. Chester City took up the lead in the table which they would lose only briefly on their way to the Conference title, which they claimed in their penultimate match. Both clubs had a faultless run-in to the end of the season, with Hereford winning 11 straight matches; the first being a 9–0 televised away win at Dagenham & Redbridge, and the eleventh coming against Chester on the final day of the season in front of Hereford's largest Conference home attendance. It was Hereford's best season statistically in the Conference, but key home defeats to Leigh RMI, Woking, Tamworth and Burton had proved very costly indeed with Hereford finishing just one point behind Chester with 91 points, 28 wins, 103 goals and a goal difference of 59. This counted for little in the play-offs where Hereford were eliminated by Aldershot Town on penalties in the semi-finals, playing with ten men for 100 minutes of the match after a controversial red card for Andrew Tretton.