Hereford built on their home win last week against Sutton Coldfield with an even more impressive win away at Whitchurch. Hereford opened slowly and the home team took a narrow lead after quarter of an hour. The Wyesiders patience paid off and three tries, all converted by Bryn Goodall, gave them a 24 points to 5 lead at the interval. The second half saw some solid defence by both teams and it was not until the closing minutes that Hereford closed off a bonus point win with an unconverted try.
An exuberant Head Coach, Sean Lynn said,” A great performance from the boys today. Our key message was to show patience in defence. We knew what Whitchurch could do, they ran the ball and we spread the field, forced mistakes and capitalised on them. Team captain, Tom Ewins led from the front. He never stopped tackling and everything he did was go forward, with ball in hand and in defence. It was great to see Rhys Proctor coming on, he caught the defence napping, made several good breaks and finished off with a try in the corner to seal the bonus point. The boys were outstanding, I could not fault the team effort, it was a very mature performance to earn the bonus point win.”
The first 20 minutes featured end to end play with neither side managing a clear advantage. A signature catch and drive from Hereford took them close and when Whitchurch were penalised in front of their posts, Bryn Goodall made no mistake with the penalty. A good break from the Whitchurch 10, drew the Hereford defence out of shape and an overlap on the wing allowed a try in the corner. On twenty minutes a Hereford catch and drive forced a penalty inside the home 22 and with some quick thinking, Connor Sullivan took a tap penalty and raced over for the first Hereford try. Goodall made the conversion. Before the interval Hereford added two more converted tries. Some good handling ended with Tom Ewins driving over and Bryn Goodall intercepted a sloppy Whitchurch pass to race the length of the field. Goodall converted both tries taking the Hereford lead to 24 points to 5 at half time.
Defences were on top for most of the second half with both sides attempting attacking football. Fifteen minutes into the half, Connor Sullivan was injured and replaced by Rhys Proctor. Proctor made an immediate impact with a couple of line breaks, putting pressure on the home defence. The Wyesiders finally nailed the bonus point when, from a ruck close to touch just inside the Whitchurch half, scrum half Proctor picked up and beating the defenders, ran in for a try in the corner. The conversion attempt from near the touchline was just wide.
This was an excellent performance from a Hereford side showing eight changes from the previous week and including another debutant, Bailey Wiles, who put in a promising shift. The club is building a much stronger squad and are beginning to show the sort of team work that the coaches aspire to. Next week further changes will be necessary due to non-availability, but there is confidence that a side capable of continuing their early form, can be fielded. Droitwich are the visitors to Wyeside next Saturday, last season they won at Hereford and the players will be keen to redress the balance.
