Hereford 22 pts Derby 23

HEREFORD'S tilt at a promotion place suffered a setback with a narrow defeat to rivals Derby who replaced them in third spot in Midlands 2 West.

It gave Derby revenge for a 32-22 home defeat back in October and, although Hereford were on the wrong end of some decisions, the visitors did enough to deserve their victory.

Derby gave a solid forward display and held territorial advantage for much of an exciting second half in which Hereford scored an injury-time try to pull within a point of their rivals in a pulsating finish.

The Wyesiders were 10-6 up at half-time but the lead quickly changed hands three times at the start of the second period as Derby gained the intiative. Overall Derby scored two converted tries and three penalties to Hereford's three tries - including a brace from right-wing Des White - two conversions and a penalty.

Scrum-half Paul Rat-cliffe kicked Derby into the lead with two penalties in the first eight minutes, but then full-back Colin Osborne replied with a kick for Hereford 10 minutes later.

Neither side could find the space to complete penetrative runs, alth-ough a dropped pass cost Hereford the chance to take the lead.

But a score was not long in coming from substitute Sam Walker who took the field in a reshuffled threequarter line when fly-half Gary Preece went off with a leg injury.

Walker went over in the corner with a fine finish after Osborne raced through to set up the chance on receiving a long, looping pass from centre Ceiron Griffiths. The full-back then landed the conversion with the last kick of the half.

Two minutes into the second half Derby regained the lead when second-row forward Mark Brewer touched down after a rolling maul and Ratcliffe added the conversion.

Hereford were quick to respond and Griffiths, whose strong, skilful running was a feature of the game, put White away for a corner try and Osborne only narrowly missed the touchline conversion.

Four minutes later Ratcliffe edged Derby back in front with a penalty and then Hereford came under pressure. Osborne was caught in possession trying to run the ball out of defence and Derby centre Roy Lane pounced to score a corner try which brought a fine conversion from Ratcliffe to give the visitors a 23-15 lead with eight minutes of injury-time approaching.

Hereford produced a brilliant reply with White rounding off a move by centres Jeremy Grisman and Griffiths and Osborne added the conversion.

But Derby forced play back into the Hereford half and held on in a tight finish to close on second-placed Stafford who were beaten by Newbold.

l Hereford 2nd gained a 24-14 away win over Welsh club Old Tyleryans with tries from Sam Ellis, Duncan Baillie and Robert Brimfield. Anth-ony Jones finished with three conversions and a penalty after Hereford led 14-7 at half-time.