Hereford United 1 Arlesey Town 0

Hereford United booked their place in the first round of the FA Cup -- and secured a £20,000 cash bonanza -- with a far from convincing 1-0 win over plucky minnows Arlesey Town at Edgar Street on Saturday.

An early goal from Paul Parry was enough to seal victory for below-par Hereford in the fourth qualifying round and earn an attractive home tie with big-spending Second Division leaders Wigan Athletic on November 16 or 17.

Steve Guinan and Chukki Eribenne both struck the visitors' woodwork after the interval and Parry and Mick Galloway also forced superb saves from Martyn Patching, but Hereford failed to score a second goal which would have put the result beyond doubt.

The spirited Bedfordshire part-timers put Hereford under pressure in the closing stages and were unlucky not to salvage a replay after Marvin Samuel's late effort struck a post and, in the fourth minute of stoppage time, the unmarked Wayne Cort headed a glorious chance wide.

Afterwards relieved United defender Tony James said: "I think we did enough to go through to the next round but they made us fight."

Hereford made a flying start when a superb cross field pass from Richard Teesdale found Parry in acres of space on the left and the Welshman chest-trapped the ball and drilled a shot past Patching in the fifth minute.

Many expected Hereford to win the game comfortably after such an early boost, but the visitors harried and closed down the home side at every opportunity.

Without doubt, the referee was lenient on the visitors and he made some strange decisions, particularly in the second-half.

Indeed, the official overlooked an obvious two-handed push by Samuel which floored Michael Rose in the 70th minute and allowed the utility player the chance to cross for Cort whose close-range header forced Matt Baker into a diving save.

Baker then made a crucial double save eight minutes later, parrying a goal-bound shot from Justin Griffiths before clasping a low effort from Cort.

But the closest the Ryman League Division One North outfit came to a leveller was eight minutes from time when the lively Samuel toe-poked the ball through Baker's legs but it struck the base of a post and rebounded to safety.