Hereford 30 Berkswell & Balsall 10
For Hereford’s visitors Berkswell & Balsall, this has been an extremely difficult season. They have yet to register a win, but made the Wyesiders work hard for their victory. It was only in the last ten minutes that the hosts drew away to seal the victory by a comfortable margin. The conditions were not favourable for open rugby, but to Hereford’s credit, they kept ball in hand on every possible occasion and ultimately reaped their reward.
“A massive thank you” said Head Coach, Scott Sturdy “to the Cathedral School for allowing us use of their pitch yesterday. Our field at Wyeside was very wet with standing water. It is vital for community clubs like ourselves to get our games played, especially when we have big sponsor lunches. Clearly the conditions were not great and it was lovely to see the sponsors and so many from the community come out to watch us. We played on a wet and heavy pitch which was probably not quite full size.
This may have favoured the opposition rather than ourselves, we played against the wind first half, we knew it was going to be tough and we rode out quite a lot of pressure. Two great individual moments from Cal Duncan and Iwan Holder who scored tries in the first half, to see us to 10 – 7 at half time. We knew then that with the wind in our favour, we had a good chance to see the game out. We took the points when they were on offer and had another two moments of magic from Iwan Holder and Gareth Jones. Their tries got us over the line and secured a try bonus. The Berkswell & Balsall team were very game, even though they are bottom of the league and have had a difficult season. They definitely turned up and showed their physicality with a very good set piece.”
“A shout for the 1870s, who won away at Old Yardleians, the only team to beat them at home. They came away with a very pleasing 10 – 7 win. Next week will be an exciting week at Wyeside. On Wednesday evening, the Apple Cup between the Cathedral School and the Hereford Sixth Form College will take place under the lights and on Friday evening our social team, the Lions, will play Luctonians. Both games should be entertaining and will generate a great atmosphere.
On Saturday, kick-off 2.15 pm, the 1870s will aim to maintain their push towards the top of the table when they welcome Pershore to Wyeside. Please get down to support them if you can, they are having a really exciting second season in the RFU league structure. Lastly, the HRFC team will travel to Silhillians on Saturday, who have been riding high during the first half of the season. We fought out a tight game in September and look forward to the challenge facing us. “
Berkswell & Balsall received the kick off and playing with a strong blustery wind, established a foothold in the Hereford half. They maintained this for most of the first quarter and after 19 minutes set up a driving maul. They drove over the whitewash and touched down for the first score. The successful conversion gave them 7 points to nil lead. Hereford responded and following some concerted pressure, moved the ball wide and Cal Duncan drove over for a try in the corner. The conversion attempt from a difficult angle was not successful. As the game moved into injury time at the break, Iwan Holder gathered the ball in his own half and raced the length of the field to dive over for the second Hereford try. This conversion attempt was also unsuccessful and at the interval the Wyesiders led by 10 points to 7.
Berkswell & Balsall started the second half as they did the first, putting pressure on the Hereford defence, the defence though, was firm and held out easily. Hereford increased their lead with a Bryn Goodall penalty, but this was promptly negated by another penalty, this time for Berkswell & Balsall. Goodall slotted his second penalty goal after a masterful chip at the 16th, and in the final ten minutes, Hereford added two further tries to seal the victory and add a try bonus to their tally. Gareth Jones charged over from a pick and go before Iwan Holder picked up a ball on the 22 and ran a flat line outside his co-centre to score under the posts. Bryn Goodall improved both tries to take the final score to 30 points to 10.
The Hereford pack did well in the set pieces with Tom Williams working well with Scott Robinson to get good lineout ball in very difficult conditions. It was great to welcome back Ollie Hutcheson from long term injury and Ewan Duncan from walk-about. Both put in a good shift off the bench and congratulations go to Nathan Watkins making his first team debut in the centre.
The 1870s beat Old Yardleians, away from home by 10 points to 7. The pleasure of victory was doubled as Yardleians are the only team to inflict a home defeat on the 1870s this season. Ollie Bullied scored all of the 1870s points with a try, a conversion and a penalty goal.
