Hereford 26 Old Halesonians 5
On a cold, but sunny afternoon and on a still heavy pitch after the floods of last week, both teams
played attacking football. Hereford made the most of their chances and registered two tries in each
half. Old Hales claimed their solitary try, early in the second half and although they had plenty of
possession later in the game, the Hereford defence remained solid. The score was in no way
flattering to Hereford, who took their run of home wins to three.
Head coach, Scott Sturdy was pleased with another really good performance from Hereford on a
heavy pitch. He said “This was a difficult challenge playing against a team just above us in the
league. They had beaten us fairly comfortably, away at the start of the season and one of the
messages we spoke about during the week was having to play for 80 minutes. It was pleasing that the lads brought that to life and we played some good attacking rugby with ball in hand. In the second half we struggled with the number of penalties we gave away when we were under pressure for large periods.
We defended so well and only conceded five points although playing for twenty minutes of the second half with fourteen men.
Another pleasing thing to take away from the game was scoring four tries and getting the bonus point. It confirms that we are playing some really good rugby at home and that Wyeside has become a bit of a fortress for us. The next challenge is going away to a Stoke team, which has been very strong this season. They have only conceded eighty points in their home games. Our attack will have to be at its absolute best if we are going to put points on the board and we’ll have to bring with us that defence which we seem able to create at home. We need to convert all that into a really good away performance if we want to take anything away from the game”.
A rampaging break by Jack Goodwin created some go forward and Dan Stacey finished well to open
the scoring with a well taken try, Connor Sullivan converted. Joe Vaughan at out half impressed with
some good line kicking and Luke Yarranton was outstanding in an effective Hereford backrow. A
Levi Hughes feint to the left created space on the right which he exploited with his extra pace and
ran through the Old Halesonian defence for the second Hereford try. Sullivan converted to take the
score to 14 points to nil which Hereford held until the interval, despite losing Jack Goodwin for ten
minutes in the bin in the run up to half time.
Early in the second period with Hereford still down to fourteen men, a lapse in concentration allowed the visitors to force a penalty.
They found a good touch and a catch and drive enabled them to reduce the deficit with an unconverted try. Hereford responded with some vigorous attacking play. From a penalty, Joe Vaughan found a good touch and a catch and drive took play to the Halesonians’ line. When the drive was halted, the Wyesiders maintained pressure with pick and gos, before an excellent finish by Vaughan restored the lead with an unconverted try. Halesonians put Hereford under a period of continued pressure, but some great defensive play saw them retain their lead despite another yellow card, this time for Richie Preece. Hereford secured the try bonus, when some driving play saw Jack Goodwin break through a number of tackles to touch down, Connor Sullivan added the extra points.
The Wyesiders fully deserved the 26 points to 5 victory which extended their run of home wins to three.

photos by www.wildcatphoto.co.uk