HEREFORD  38 - 19  STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

Wyeside, Saturday 25 March 2006

Powergen Midlands 3 West (South)

Hereford attacked from the start but good defensive work by Stratford stopped two promising attacks. Dave White eventually opened the scoring after a good handling move enabled him to score in the corner. The conversion attempt failed.

Hereford dominated the game at this stage and in the twenty-first minute Mike Smith scored under the posts with Colin Osborne converting.

From the re-start, Stratford used their heavier pack to maul their way into the Hereford twenty-two and managed to drive over to score under the posts. The try was converted.

Hereford then scored two further tries by Andy Johnson and Andy Knight, the latter try being converted by Osborne.

Stratford again used their well-organised pack to put Hereford under pressure which enabled them to score another converted try under the posts. The half time score was 24-14 to Hereford.

Hereford scored their fifth try when a Stratford attack was stopped and a quick counter attack ended with Sean Day scoring his first try. This was again converted by Osborne.

Stratford then attacked constantly with their pack making considerable ground with their rolling mauls. From a line-out in the home team's twenty two metre area, another maul led to Stratford scoring an unconverted try. Stratford continued to exert pressure on the Hereford defence through their pack but outstanding tackling constantly disrupted the visitors momentum.

From some loose Stratford play, Hereford gained possession and another fine handling move led to Sean Day, who had an outstanding game, to score his second and Hereford's final try to give them a well-deserved victory.

Footnote
After the match the Midlands' organising committee decreed that the match should be replayed after the original fixture featured uncontested scrums when Hereford were unable to field a front row after 48 minutes when they were leading 24-14. The Wyesiders went on to win 39-14 and both clubs agreed that result should stand. But, as Stratford were within two scores of Hereford at the time of uncontested scrums, the committee decided that a replay should take place on April 1.

Photographs with thanks to Robin Davies & Frank Dullehan