Droitwich 10 Hereford 10
The Hereford signature catch and drive from the lineout provided them with two tries which assisted them in sharing the spoils with Droitwich.
The Wyesiders had the better of the early exchanges and a driving maul was halted just short of the Droitwich line. But, after 13 minutes Droitwich capitalised on an elementary mistake by Hereford to run in under the posts. A successful conversion gave them a seven-point lead which they were able to increase with a well struck penalty from half way.
Shortly after, Hereford centre Jordan Sheehy was led from the field after suffering a serious head injury.
Luke Yarranton was moved from the forward pack to take his place in the three-quarter line. Some sterling play by the Hereford forwards kept the visitors in touch and as the break approached the first of the successful catch and drives saw Matt Frost touch down for the first Hereford try. Joe Vaughan was unlucky to see his conversion attempt strike the upright and bounce back, leaving the Droitwich half time lead at 10 points to 5.
Play in the second half was end to end. Both sides suffered from unforced errors and poor decision making, often just as an opportunity to score had been created.
As the half progressed the Hereford pack gained control with some heavy carrying particularly from Jamie Humphreys, Matt Frost and Scott Robinson. They forced several penalties working their way into the Droitwich 22 and a drive from the lineout saw Matt Frost touch down for his second try. The conversion attempt was not successful, but the Wyesiders were level and with a little more composure in the final few minutes might have sealed the win.
Head coach, Scott Sturdy was disappointed not to get the win, but was happy enough with the performance and two away points.
After the game he said “The first away game of the season and nine changes from the team that played Wolverhampton at home last week. It was great to give a couple more lads a debut and experience in a first team shirt.
We made too many unforced errors again which is a recurring theme from last week.
The one try Droitwich scored was from one of our own errors, catching and passing in the wrong area of the field. Apart from that, our defence was outstanding, our ball recovery was very strong and that bodes well for the rest of the season.
The Hereford forwards were outstanding and carried really well. We clearly have areas for development, making sure we finish our chances when we’re in the red zone and looking after the ball a bit better, especially when we’re chasing the game.
Overall, I am really pleased to have fielded twenty-five different players in our first two league games. It is great to see different lads getting game time and performing well. We shall look to refine the squad as the weeks move on.
Thank you to Droitwich, they hosted us well and were really competitive in their performance today. I think they’ll do well this season.”
The two debutants, Aaron Lewis and Sam Roberts can be pleased with their first appearance as can Joe Vaughan with his first game at fly-half. We welcome back Sean Day and Jamie Humphreys both of whom have been laid off with persistent injury. Today’s injury list is quite a long one. As well as Jordan Sheehy, Luke Yarranton, Ollie Hutcheson and Sean Day all received knocks. We hope that they will all soon be fit and well enough to resume playing.
Next week we entertain old rivals Worcester in a local derby at Wyeside.
