Grisman's cool kick levels clash of rivals

JEREMY Grisman kept a cool head to slot over a penalty with the last kick of the match and earn Hereford a draw with county rivals Luctonians in a pulsating Midlands 1 clash at Wyeside on Saturday.

It completed a fine game, filled with passion and commitment, and played with an intensity which is characteristic of such a local derby.

Luctonians had beaten Hereford twice previously. They knocked the city side out of the North Midlands Cup at Wyeside at the start of the season and later pipped them 14-11 with a late try in their first league meeting at Kingsland.

This was another close and tense affair. The fact that both Luctonians tries were scored by backs and the Hereford brace by forwards was a fair reflection of the relative strengths of the sides.

Luctonians' backs were always a threat but the Hereford forwards controlled the tight and their powerful drives gave the visitors some anxious moments.

The early pressure was all from Hereford and centre Grisman opened the scoring with a seventh-minute penalty when Luctonians were adjudged to have gone over the top.

Luctonians hit back in the 15th minute when, from a set scrum, the ball was moved to the right and full-back Mark Panniers hit the line at speed to touch down in the corner.

The conversion attempt was missed and Hereford immediately regained the lead from a tapped penalty in the visitors' 22 when number eight Mark Morrison crashed over.

Panniers levelled the scores from a penalty before Hereford scored their second try through hooker Gareth Miles following a period of pressure on the Luctonians' line.

The Luctonians backs were not to be outdone, however, and Darren Brick made a clean take at a Luctonians lineout and provided the ball for centre Jon Goodwin to slice through for a fine try.

Panniers missed the conversion but made amends before half-time with a well-struck penalty when the Hereford backs were caught off side, allowing his side to turn around with a slender three-point lead.

The second half was dominated by defences. Although the home pack were encamped in the Luctonians' 22 for appreciable periods, the nearest that Hereford got to scoring was from a couple of unsuccessful drops at goal.

Luctonians then seemed to have done enough to secure a narrow victory before Grisman stepped up to level the scores with a penalty in the last minute of injury time.