Hereford lose possession and pay price with 10th defeat

HEREFORD'S failure to retain and recycle the ball at breakdowns cost them dear as they crashed to their 10th defeat in 12 starts to leave them firmly entrenched in the relegation zone of the Powergen Midlands West 2.

With Jeremy Grisman making his first appearance at fly-half this season, Hereford started confidently and took the play to the opposition.

The home front row of Ben Priday, Dave Thomas and teenager Nathaniel Bishop did well against their bigger and more experienced opponents and provided their backs with a good supply of the ball.

But Nuneaton fly-half Will Masser kicked astutely to push Hereford back and, when they strayed off-side at a ruck, he punished them with the opening penalty goal.

The visitors extended their lead before the interval when the home forwards failed to keep possession after a promising drive was halted. Nuneaton moved the ball quickly to their left-wing Steve Krauth who evaded three tackles to cross for an unconverted corner try.

Skipper Andy Johnson set a good example and, with support from Matthew Pritchard, was always contesting the ball and making telling tackles.

Richard Preece made a strong run for Hereford shortly after the restart but lacked support, the ball again being turned over for Masser to drive Hereford back into their own half.

A further Hereford indiscretion, this time for handling in a ruck, gave Masser another opportunity to kick for goal and he landed his second penalty.

The visitors were depleted when prop Durdott was sin-binned for foul play and he had no sooner rejoined the fray when their scrum-half Mitchell was also yellow-carded.

Hereford did not take full advantage of their numerical superiority, although centre Jimmy Crompton and scrum-half Ben Jenkins made a couple of dangerous breaks.

Substitute Steve Scott made an impressive debut for Hereford but could not prevent his side from falling further behind when Masser landed his third penalty.

Hereford did not drop their heads and from the restart they hit back with a try from Crompton who seized on a Nuneaton mistake to fly-kick the ball over the line and win the race for the touchdown.

This lifted Hereford but, although they pinned back their visitors for the final quarter, they could not reduce arrears.