Hereford 16 Moseley Oak 15

Hereford contested a close-run match with visitors Moseley Oak at Wyeside in conditions more suited to water polo than rugby. The wet greasy ball and soggy underfoot conditions made it difficult for either side to play an open handling game, but this they tried and it resulted in some very untidy play. Hereford landed a brace of first half penalties, but a converted try gave Moseley Oak a one-point advantage at the interval. In the second half the visitors added a second try before the teams exchanged penalties to give Moseley Oak a six-point lead well into the final quarter. Into the last few minutes of injury time Hereford put in some desperate attacks which drew some equally desperate defence from Moseley Oak. Eventually, after Hereford forced a series of penalties close to the visitor’s goal-line, the referee lost patience and awarded a penalty try.

“A really good day at Wyeside” said Head Coach, Scott Sturdy “The pitch was extremely wet, it was heavy underfoot and we had a severe downpour just before kick-off. We played against a game Moseley Oak team who were young, athletic and to a man, extremely physical.

Hereford showed some real character today we took points from the boot to build our score. Moseley Oak created a couple of chances, took them both and with 5 minutes to go we were under pressure with the score at 15 – 9. In true Hereford fashion we found a way and the penalty try, just before the end of the game put us in the lead at 16 – 15. We showed attitude and character to see the game out when we came under pressure from Moseley Oak in the last couple of minutes.

We’ve got some areas that we need to work on, but it’s great that we’ve got a good away win under our belts and a good home win, that’s two games in a row. Next week we go to unbeaten top of the league Newent. The 1870s lost 34 – 29 over at Kenilworth IIs. A notable performance from Lewis Jordan who scored four tries in what I’m told was a very well contested game. Please, if you can make your way over to Newent next week, it would mean a massive amount to the lads and myself. We know it’s going to be a really difficult contest, but as I said we are really looking forward to it.”

Hereford looked quite sharp in the opening exchanges, with winger Stephan Dyers into the action early. The Hereford pressure forced a penalty, ten yards inside the Moseley Oak half and Iwan Holder slotted it to give the Wyesiders an early lead.

Moseley Oak had the better of possession and field position, they gathered a loose Hereford kick out of defence, moved the ball wide through hands and raced over in the corner. An excellent conversion from wide out added the extra points. A driving run in mid-field by Lennon Fishlock took play into the Moseley Oak half and forced a penalty, which Holder converted to take reduce the deficit to a single point. Into the third quarter, the Hereford back row of Jake Cheshire, Josh Bell and Gareth Jones worked hard to create good field position. The final minutes of the half were littered with penalties and scrappy play and the teams changed ends with Moseley Oak leading by 7 points to 6.

Hereford started the second half putting the Moseley Oak defence under pressure, forcing several penalties which they kicked to the corner. The catch and drive were not working as well as usual and several chances finished with a knock forward or forced into touch. Against the run of play, a Moseley Oak player picked up a loose ball in his own half, raced fifty yards and ran round under the posts. The conversion attempt was wide, but the visitors had opened a six-point lead.

Holder kicked a third penalty for Hereford which Moseley Oak countered with one of their own. Poor handling and ill-discipline contributed to a period of poor play, but Hereford showed plenty of dog. They put extreme and consistent pressure on the Moseley Oak defence for a ten-minute period, despite 3 putting at the 16th. The visitors were penalised several times in the red zone and eventually the referee lost patience and awarded Hereford a penalty try. This was not a good game, the conditions did not help, but the players on either side seemed unable to change their natural style to meet the conditions. Hereford though, will be pleased with their 16 points to 15 win and will look forward to visiting league leaders Newent next week.

The 1870s came away from Kenilworth with a couple of points from a 34 – 29 loss. They keep their second place in their league and will look forward to the visit of Tamworth II to Wyeside next week. The scorers at Kenilworth were tries, Lewis Jordan 4 and Fletcher Smith 1, conversions were landed by Jordon Sheehy 1 and Ollie Bullied 1