Stoke on Trent 46 Hereford 14
On a sunny day, in a cold blustery wind the Hereford team put in a good shift to stay in this game until midway through the second half.
After Stoke opened with a third minute try, play was end to end and Hereford took a narrow lead with a converted try midway through the half. Stoke responded with a try and a penalty goal to take an interval lead of 13 points to 7. Stoke increased their lead with a converted try early in the second half, but within a minute of the restart Hereford had reduced the deficit with a second converted try. They had stayed in the game until twenty minutes into the half and looked capable of remaining competitive for the final quarter. During the last 20 minutes Stoke turned the screw and their much bigger pack and strong running backs made their advantage tell to run in four more tries.
Head coach, Scott Sturdy said “We had a tough day at the office, but showed great character and gave them a game for sixty minutes. We have several positives to take from the game and look forward to building on them next week when we take on my old club Whitchurch at Wyeside”.
Just three minutes into the game, Stoke found touch near the Hereford line from a penalty. The catch and drive sucked in the defence and a well-judged cross kick was collected to open the score, with a try in the corner. Some end-to-end play was characterised by some strong running by the home backs which put the Wyesiders’ defence under pressure.
Hereford responded in kind with some driving play featuring Tom Ewins and Jack Goodwin.
They took a narrow two-point lead in the twenty third minute when after a lineout, the ball was moved wide and given some space, Levi Hughes made no mistake in securing the try, Cal Brayshaw made the conversion to take the score to 5 points to 7. Some determined running, helped by some missed tackles allowed Stoke to regain the lead with an unconverted try and a penalty took the interval score to 13 points to 7.
Nine minutes into the second half Stoke won a lineout inside the visitors’ 22 and a series of pick and goes set up a try which was converted.
From the restart, Hereford won a penalty and Stoke allowed a bomb from Cal Brayshaw to bounce and Dan Stacey following up won the race to touch down. Brayshaw converted and Hereford were back in the game and it seemed that against the odds, they might just get something from the game. Stoke, though saw it differently and used their big pack and determined running backs to turn up the gas. They added four more tries, three of which were converted taking the final score to 46 points to 14.
Tom Ewins and Perry Pudge complemented each other’s game much as they did a few years ago before Perry took his sabbatical, scrum half, Connor Sullivan was excellent, often playing like a ninth forward and skipper Lewis Jordan led by example. Teenage forward Toby Jones, Luke Yarranton and Jack Goodwin formed an effective back row, but Hereford missed ball carrying forwards Ollie Hutcheson, Ewan Duncan and James Marshall.
The Wyesiders now have consecutive home games against Whitchurch and Stratford before completing their season with a trio of away fixtures.
