A FIRST half masterclass which included five unanswered tries resulted in Hereford RFC running out 33-12 winners against Wolverhampton.

A brace of tries by Iwan Holder and further scores from Cal Duncan, Jamie Humphreys and Ollie Hutcheson resulted in the Wyesiders giving their home fans an enjoyable afternoon.

In a game of two halves Hereford started well and got their running game going right from the kick off.  Within

“We were excellent in the first half,” said Hereford head coach Scott Sturdy.

“Our intent to play meant we created numerous chances and finished a proportion of those to be 33-0 up at half-time. The second half was disappointing after such a great first half. We made quite a few unforced errors and found ourselves on the back foot defending for most of the half.”

From the kick off Hereford secured the ball drove forward before moving the ball wide to Cal Duncan, who dived over in the corner for the first try after just two minutes and Dean Powell slotted the conversion from the difficult angle.

From a lineout inside the visitors’ 22, Hereford drove for the goal line and Jake Cheshire popped up a ball for Humphries to crash over for the second try, to which Powell added the extra points.

From a scrum on halfway, the ball was then moved slickly through hands for Joe Vaughan to off-load for newcomer Holder to dive over for the first of his two tries. Mid way through the first half Wolverhampton put together some promising movements which ended in, often unforced, handling errors.

With the interval approaching Hereford added two more tries within a three-minute period. From a scrum the ball was moved swiftly across the line, when the move was halted, Hutcheson drove over for the bonus point try.

The fifth try saw Holder run 60 yards side-stepping defenders off both right and left foot to race round behind the posts before touching down. Both tries were improved by Dean Powell.

Wolverhampton dominated possession and field position throughout the second half.

The Hereford defence, although under pressure for most of the half was first class, conceding just two scores.