Hereford 15 pts Barkers' Butts 23

HEREFORD bowed to the visitors' stronger forwards who were the key factor as Barkers' Butts claimed victory in a Powergen Midlands 2 West relegation battle in difficult conditions.

Colin Osborne kicked Hereford into an early lead after the swift home backs lured their opponents into an off-side position to concede a penalty.

The lead was short-lived, however, as the powerful visiting pack drove at the home line with a series of rolling mauls giving their number eight Geoff Evans an opportunity to go over for a corner try. Dan Richards added a superb touchline conversion.

Although living off crumbs of possession, the Hereford backs always posed a danger with Jimmy Crompton and Des White showing their paces with a couple of strong breaks. White eventually jinked his way over for a fine solo try under the posts and Osborne landed the conversion.

Another darting run from White was held under the posts but when the referee awarded Hereford a penalty they decided to run the ball instead of taking the three points on offer.

Minutes later Osborne's attempted penalty drifted wide and from that point Hereford seemed to lose momentum.

Turning around with a 10-7 advantage, they were soon under sustained pressure as the visitors kept the ball tight and worked their way downfield with a series of rolling mauls.

This tactic worked with Hereford conceding a penalty in front of their posts and Richards levelled the scores.

Butts took the lead with one of their few attempts to run the ball through their backs, sloppy home defence gifting them with a corner try from centre Thompson, and Richards again landed an excellent conversion.

Butts continued to dominate and extended their lead to 13 points with another penalty from the unfailing Richards.

With 10 minutes left, Hereford introduced Andy Tanner at scrum-half and this sparked a late flurry with a series of attacks involving Osborne, Crompton and White.

Tanner moved the swiftly recycled ball for Richard Mayson to dart over for a try and Osborne narrowly failed with the conversion.

In spite of further Hereford pressure, the visitors held out for an important win.

Hereford are at home Aston OE in a re-arranged fixture on Saturday.