Hereford, with seven changes in the side due to a wedding, lacked the spirit of the Lincolnshire visitors and paid for their lethargy with defeat in the preliminary round of the Tetley Bitter Cup, writes Jeremy Finney.

With £4,000 awarded to the winners and the chance of more from a cup run, it was a costly defeat for the Wyesiders against lower-graded Spalding who, despite having to travel the breadth of the country, always looked more up for the game.

Penalty kicks provided most of the points but it was Spalding who scored the only try of the game after gaining a first-half ascendancy which saw them go in leading 9-0 with three penalties from fly-half Kevin Wand, who was an influential figure throughout the game.

Both sides, who had never previously met, tested the water in the early stages but it soon became apparent that Spalding were the more enterprising team on the day and they were allowed too much room to manoeuvre by the hesitant Hereford defence.

The Lincolnshire side were rewarded for their efforts by a penalty from Wand in the 22nd minute and he coolly slotted home another three minutes later.

Poor Hereford defending allowed him to gratefully seize another chance after a further two minutes and this sparked the home side into some action with driving runs from the forwards with Phil Jones and Gareth Miles prominent.

Centre Jeremy Grisman reduced arrears with a penalty and then kicked another on the stroke of half-time to make the score 6-9.

Three minutes into the second half he added another penalty to level the score after good work by Jones and Mark Osborne and two minutes later he landed another to put Hereford ahead for the first time.

Their lead was short-lived, however. Ten minutes later Hereford full-back Ivan Powell made a try-saving tackle against his opposite number Paul Pearson, but the ball was then spun out and the Spalding full-back went over from a curving run to leave Ward with an easy conversion to give his side a decisive four-point advantage.

Hereford fought back but they never really looked like scoring a try. Their nearest effort came from Grisman who missed a more difficult penalty attempt.

l Two tries from lock Richard Davies helped Hereford Colts to a 19-5 win over Lydney Colts.

Centre Paul Eynon also crossed for a try and fly-half Will Bolt added two conversions.