HEREFORD dug out a hard-earned 10-3 win against Crewe & Nantwich that keeps them in touch with the leaders in Midlands 1 West.

Played in difficult conditions due to heavy rain, the game was littered with handling errors from both sides.

Crewe took an early three-point lead thanks to a penalty, an advantage they held on to until half-time.

Hereford had several opportunities from penalty awards, but opted to kick for position, none of which were turned into try scoring chances.

The Wyesiders opened the second half with a more attacking attitude and a well-placed kick from Morgan Goodall was carried on by Sean Day, who was narrowly beaten to the ball by a defender who conceded a scrum.

The Hereford forwards attempted to push over, but were held up.

The ball was moved wide and Finn Ralph outflanked the defensive cover to cross for the first try.

Goodall’s conversion attempt was narrowly wide, but minutes later, a clearance kick by Crewe was charged down and Richard Preece picked up the loose ball to drive over for his side's second try of the afternoon.

Hereford controlled the game throughout the second half, but defences were generally on top and the closest they came to increasing the lead was a couple of long range penalty attempts from Goodall and Will Ford.

Hereford coach Kieram Hallam felt his side could have won by more points.

"When we identify a weakness in the opposition we need to be clinical in exploiting the opportunity offered," he said.

The Wyesiders have a testing visit to Dudley Kingswinford this Saturday.