Hereford 41 Worcester 29
Worcester at Wyeside for a local derby in grand weather for rugby, what spectator could ask for more? Any hopes were well founded, as an exciting game produced eleven tries and plenty of adventurous running football. Worcester opened with two tries in the first quarter before the Wyesiders responded with four to give them a half time lead of 24 points to 17.
The teams registered a try apiece in the first quarter of the second period, but a further brace of tries sealed the game for Hereford. Worcester never gave up and shortly before the final whistle scored a fourth try to give them a try bonus. The win gave Hereford five league points and moved them up a place in the league table to fifth.
“I am happy with the win and bonus point” said Coach Alun Richards “However, the game was very stop-start and we couldn’t get any continuity into our game for long periods. This was mainly down to ill discipline and unforced errors. When we had the ball, we put ourselves under pressure and conceding two soft scores in the first 20 minutes was all our own doing.
Luckily, we managed to hit the reset button after the first quarter and we were able to put some phases together which gave us a foothold in the match. We managed to put Worcester under pressure which resulted in them conceding multiple penalties and we were able to gain some decent territory in their red zone.
Our line out maul was key to us getting back into the game and was well executed all afternoon by the front 5. It was good to see some line breaks, with some superb individual tries from Jack Goodwin, Iwan Holder and Ollie Bonelle. Other standout performances include, Stephan Dyers who looked dangerous in attack and defence and Josh Wright who managed the game at 10 and then at 9 after Max Cook was forced to leave the field with an injury. Jake Cheshire was a handful with ball in hand and Tom Williams and Danny Robson worked tirelessly in the loose.
We now move on to Cheltenham next week who have had some good wins so far this season and will be another big test for us.”
Worcester kicked off playing down the slope and for most of the first quarter had the better of things, putting Hereford under pressure in their own half. After seven minutes, with play in the Hereford red zone, the referee awarded Worcester a penalty try and yellow carded Max Cook.
Worcester failed to add to their advantage when a drop goal attempt rebounded from the crossbar and Hereford missed the chance to reduce their deficit, when a long-range penalty attempt faded just wide of the posts.
After 25 minutes a loose kick ahead from Hereford was picked up by a Worcester player, who ran through the defence, hardly being touched and scored under the posts. The conversion was good and the visitors had increased their lead to 14 points.
The Wysiders started to look dangerous and a catch and drive from a lineout was halted when they knocked on short of the line. Stephan Dyers made an elusive run back from a Worcester kick and made a well-timed pass to Lewis Turner, who crossed in the corner for the first Hereford try.
Hereford further reduced the deficit with a try straight from the training ground. Worcester conceded a couple of penalties, one of their players was shown yellow and from the second penalty, Iwan Holder found a good touch inside the visitors’ 22. The catch and drive worked perfectly and Lewis Jordan touched down at the back of the maul.
Into injury time at the interval Jack Goodwin picked up the ball inside the 22 and raced 70 yards, brushing off tacklers left and right and crashing over for the try. Josh Wright added the extra points to draw level at 17 points apiece.
With the last play of the half, following a scrum on the left, Iwan Holder received the ball and cutting a wide semi-circle outflanked the Worcester defence to run in Hereford’s fourth and bonus point try. Josh Wright converted to give the Wyesiders a 24 – 17 lead going in to half time.
Hereford put the visitors under pressure from the start of the second period. A poor clearance kick was run back through the hands to debutant Ollie Bonelle, who scored with an athletic touch down in the corner.
Worcester came into the picture with a catch and drive which the Hereford pack halted. They then set up a passing movement and going through the phases worked their way over the line for a try, which was converted with an excellent kick from a difficult angle.
Hereford responded with a brace of tries. Lewis Jordan touched down at the back of the maul following a lineout and Jack Goodwin forced his way over after a break from a lineout. Josh Wright converted Goodwin’s try to give the Wyesiders a 17 point lead.
Worcester refused to lie down and as the clock went into injury time, they worked their way into the Hereford red zone and earned themselves the consolation of a try bonus.
Hereford started the game playing a bit of a kicking game. When they started to keep ball in hand, they looked by far the better team and were well worth the 41 points to 29 win.
The 1870s claimed another good result winning at Old Leamingtonians by 59 points to 24. Scorers for the 1870s were tries Aaron Pointer, Nathan Watkins, Ollie Bullied, Jamie Hodges, Ben Hyde 2 & Josh Bell 3, Ollie Bullied landed 7 conversions. The 1870s now lie at 3rd place in their league just 2 points away from the leader. Next week they welcome Worcester II to Wyeside. This should be a well contested game and if you have time, well worth a visit.
