HEREFORD  33 - 3  OLD COVENTRIANS

Wyeside, Saturday 19 November 2005

Powergen Midlands 3 West (South)

Both teams struggled to get to grips with the slippery conditions after the early morning frost had melted to leave a soft, wet top of the ground, resulting in a series of unforced errors.

Full-back Gary Preece gave Hereford the lead with a short-range penalty goal, only for the visitors to level when Hereford strayed off-side. Hereford suddenly found their touch and regained the lead with an excellent unconverted try just before the break. Fly-half Tim Harvey made a scything break and, when challenged, slipped the ball to his supporting centre Sam Ellis who touched down wide out.

The hosts continued in the same vein after the interval and gradually ran the opposition ragged. Hereford lost prop Bill Sparey to the sin-bin but still ran in two tries during his absence. Harvey ghosted down the blindside to get over in the corner and winger Ben Stevens celebrated his first start of the season by finishing off a flowing move with another corner try, both conversions failing.

Then came the try of the match with Hereford stretching the visiting defence to breaking point after three phases of play. Flying winger Adam Knight applied the finishing touchdown when he came in off the wing to slice through the opposition with an unstoppable 40-metre run.

Constant pressure created an overlap for full-back Preece to add another corner try, and young number eight Ben Collier took advantage of tired Coventrians tackling to complete the scoring, both conversion attempts drifting wide.

In what was an excellent team performance, youngsters Luke Clifford (flanker), Billy Grisman (scrum-half) and Will Watkins (lock) were outstanding.

 Sam Ellis touches down for Hereford's first try
Photo with thanks to Frank Dullehan