HEREFORD  0 - 33  DERBY

Wyeside, Saturday 4 October 2003, 3pm

Powergen Midlands 2 West League

Hereford started briskly and were soon awarded a penalty for Derby not releasing the ball in the tackle but Colin Osborne’s kick was just short.

There followed a 15 minute patch where Hereford tried to attack at every opportunity but Derby managed to win the ball in crucial defensive positions. Some tremendous work from Matthew Pritchard (Hereford’s man of the match) and Wayne Davies thwarted Derby and stopped them getting in their stride.

In fact after 30 minutes of trying to run the ball and getting nowhere, Derby changed tactics and tried to kick their possession into attacking plays. Hereford defence stood firm and the home team were able to get back down into the Derby 22 on numerous occasions.

With half time only 5 minutes away a long kick form the Derby full back inside his own 22 was not well fielded by the Hereford back line and they were caught in possession on their own 22. Derby turned over the ball and scrum half Paul Radcliffe was able to run the remaining distance to score under the posts. David Fern made no mistake with the conversion.

Hereford went back on the attack and were again held up in the Derby 22. At this point Spencer Goodall had to retire after injury and was replaced by Ali McColl. Goodall had done well in his first game for over 7 years. Indeed he had given the pack some much needed stability, confidence and experience, not to mention the fact that the veteran ex-captain had increased the average age of the team by nearly two years.

From the resulting scrum Derby winger and captain Richard Bygraves kicked long. Hereford defence was caught in possession trying to form another attack, the ball was won by Derby and passed out wide to winger Rod Muir to score his first of the day right in the corner. Fly half Fern kicked an excellent conversion to take Derby into a flattering 14-0 lead, with the referee blowing for half time.

The second half saw much of the same with Hereford attacking with any ball they had. Gary Preece took the penalties quickly and put Derby on the back foot, but Hereford were unable to retain possession at crucial times.

When Derby attacked, Hereford’s defence stood the test with captain Andrew Johnson always at the first line of defence. Jeremy Grisman came on for Ben Stephens with 15 minutes left and Hereford continued to play well in attack and defence.

With less than 10 minutes to go it looked as though the score would stay the same until the final whistle. However Hereford were penalised in Derby’s half and from the long touch kick they set up a line out inside the Hereford 22. The ball was won and Radcliffe  kicked nicely to put Muir in for his second. 0-19.

From the kick off Derby kicked the ball back down into the heart of the Hereford defence and were able to snaffle up possession, a well worked move saw full back Lawson race through to touch down under the posts. Fern added the extra points. The Hereford player’s heads dropped slightly and from the kick off Derby again kicked into good attacking position. From the ruck Radcliffe put flanker Stu Bailey under the posts with Fern adding the conversion at the final whistle.

Hereford Chairman Guy Griffiths said, “The players played their best game of the season so far and were very unlucky to let in the points at the end. Even the many Derby supporters here said that 14-0 would have been a fair result and they were surprised with the all round ability of the Hereford team. They had expected a much easier game. I was particularly pleased that the discipline improved and I believe that that has contributed to a much better performance. It was nice to see an “Old Codger” on the field but to be fair you can’t beat experience and Spencer did exceptionally well. So far we have played all 3 of the strongest sides in the league and I would be surprised, if today, we had not played the eventual winners”

Next week Hereford travel to Warwickshire side Barkers Butts

Ben Hillstead, Wayne Davies, Andy Mason, Jamie Bullock, Andrew Johnson (captain), Ben Collier, Will McQuaid, Mathew Pritchard, Ben Jenkins, Charlie Langford, Richard Mayson, Andy Tannant, Pete Clarke, Sam Walker, Colin Osborne.

Nathaniel Bishop, Gary Preece, Peter Reid.

Hereford face a difficult task when they entertain table-topping Derby on Saturday. Two close games last season count for nothing now as Derby have strengthened their squad this season and Hereford have not yet found their rhythm.