HEREFORD players were described as 'rusty' following a three-week break resulting in a 20-7 defeat at Ludlow.

The wet weather has disrupted the last few weeks of training and playing for the Wyesiders prior to their trip to Ludlow.

Hereford were slow starting and penned into their own half for long periods.

It was 20 minutes into the match before they ventured into the Ludlow 22.

The Wyesiders were pressured into conceding penalties and from one of these, Will Sparrow landed a goal to give Ludlow an early lead.

After almost 40 minutes, Hereford won a series of lineouts and in protecting their goal-line, Ludlow offended once too often and the visitors were awarded a penalty try.

However, in first half injury time Ludlow created a gap and a well timed off-load put Ben Black in for a try to give the hosts a 10-7 interval lead.

Despite improving at the start of the second half Hereford failed to capitalise on their possession.

As the half progressed, Hereford lost their shape and handling errors frustrated the hopes of their supporters. Will Sparrow added a second penalty goal to increase the Ludlow lead, before a second try sealed the 20-7 win.

Head coach, Sean Lynn said: "It was a disappointing result, to come away from home and not get any points.

"We were in a good position at 7-3 up approaching half-time and it really didn’t help us to concede a try before the break.

"The sloppy errors today showed we haven’t played for three weeks and were rusty. Full credit to Ludlow, they played very well all round, for us it was a tough day at the office and I would say the better team won on the day."