Hereford 33 Wolverhampton 12
In a game of two halves Hereford started well and got their running game going right from the kick off. Within two minutes they had registered the first of five unanswered tries.
Playing some exciting football, tries followed at regular intervals and at half time the Wyesiders held a lead of 33 points to nil. In the second half the heavier Wolverhampton forwards shifted up a gear. They dominated possession and field position putting the Hereford defence under constant pressure. After a succession of scrums on the home goal line, the referee awarded the visitors a penalty try. With whatever second half possession Hereford achieved, they tried to open the game up, but with little success. Their defensive structure held out until deep into injury time, Wolverhampton secured a consolation try to take the final score to 33 – 12.
Head Coach, Scott Sturdy said “We were excellent in the first half. Our intent to play meant we created numerous chances and finished a proportion of those to be 33 – nil up at half time. The second half was disappointing after such a great first half. We made quite a few unforced errors and found ourselves on the back foot defending for most of the half.
The 1870s had a walk over opponents Redditch and were given the league points before the game started.
Fair play to them coming over with 12 men to play a friendly and going on to have a great game. This is what rugby is all about in terms of our ethos wanting to get lads to play. Credit to Redditch for coming over for a great day with a packed clubhouse after.
Two really big games coming up this weekend. We travel to Malvern for a tough and challenging local derby, whilst our 1870s travel to Stourport for a top of the table clash. Two difficult away games and we look forward to getting stuck in. “
From the kick off Hereford secured the ball and Ollie Hutcheson drove through the midfield into the Wolverhampton 22. They went through a couple of phases before moving the ball wide to Cal Duncan, who dived over in the corner for the first try after just two minutes. Dean Powell slotted the conversion from the difficult angle. From a lineout inside the visitors’ 22, Hereford drove for the goal line and Jake Cheshire popped up a ball for Jamie Humphries to crash over for the second try, to which Dean Powell added the extra points.
Hereford were playing some excellent attacking football with centres Mark Philo and Josh Wright prominent.
From a scrum on halfway, the ball was moved slickly through hands for Joe Vaughan to off-load to newcomer Iwan Surian-Holder who dived over for the first of his two tries. Mid way through the first half Wolverhampton put together some promising movements which ended in, often unforced, handling errors.
With the interval approaching Hereford added two more tries within a 3-minute period. From a scrum the ball was moved swiftly across the line, when the move was halted, Ollie Hutcheson drove over for the bonus point try. The fifth try was set up by Jake Cheshire who fed Iwan Surian-Holder inside his own half. Holder ran 60 yards side-stepping defenders off both right and left foot to race round behind the posts before touching down. Both tries were improved by Dean Powell.
Half time instructions from their coaches were clearly actioned by the visiting forwards who gave a much improved second half performance, ensuring that Wolverhampton dominated possession and field position throughout the half.
The Hereford backs did their best to make something from what little possession they received, but rarely managed to get beyond half way. The Hereford defence, although under pressure for most of the half was first class, conceding just two scores. Early in the half, a succession of scrums in the Hereford red zone eventually led to a penalty try and deep into injury time a driving maul was pushed over the line and touched down for a try. The conversion attempt failed and the final whistle ended the game with Hereford winning by 33 points to 12.
This was a good team performance, taking their chances in the first half and defending well in the second. Amongst many good performances, the half back duo of skipper Connor Sullivan and Dean Powell stood out, as did flanker Tom Williams in a hard-working forward pack.
