HEREFORD Rugby Club's Tetley Bitter Cup hopes went up in smoke with a 16-12 home defeat to Spalding on Saturday.

The Belvadere Lane side had high hopes of progressing in the competition but a lack-lustre display in a scrappy encounter ended their cup run before it began.

The visitors went in front with three points before Jamie Grisman kicked the first of his four penalties.

However, Spalding led 9-6 at half-time after another series of penalties.

The only try of the game came in the second period when the visitors broke away and then converted the touch down. Despite another two Grisman penalties, Hereford bowed out without ever showing what they were capable of. A disappointed skipper Jason Lewis found few plus points to come out of the game.

He said: "We never got going and it was just a bad day all round for us. We were not at full strength and it showed but really we should have won the game.

"It was scrappy, certainly not a spectacle and we were desperately disappointed with our performance because we had high hopes of going through."

Hereford now switch their attention to Saturday's Midland One home clash with Scunthorpe.