Hereford below their best but beat Camp Hill in Midlands One West (From Hereford Times)

Hereford below their best but beat Camp Hill in Midlands One West

5:20pm Thursday 25th October 2012 in Sport

Hereford 34 pts Camp Hill 25.

WELSHMAN Jon Smith gave another man-of-the-match display - but Hereford were disappointed with their performance against the strugglers.

Returning Ben Hillstead and Gareth Miles beefed up Hereford’s front-row in a scrappy Midlands One West affair at Wyeside.

Winless Camp Hill belied their lowly league position and led 18-13 at the break and made Hereford fight all the way.

Hereford’s penalty count at the breakdown was frustrating - and Hill’s outside-half Andy Barker, who secured 20 points, kicked five first-half penalties and a drop goal.

Dean Powell was also in fine kicking form for the hosts with two penalties and a conversion of Hereford’s first try from Charlie Loughman.

Coach Mark Harris knows that his side must cut out their mistakes for the trip to high-flying Lichfield this Saturday.

Lichfield are unbeaten after eight games and have a positive points difference of 205.

The quality of rugby in the first half was poor and Ollie Llewellyn and Ben Hillstead were yellow-carded for the hosts.

Hereford improved in the second-half and, after 45 minutes, Loughman bagged his second touchdown of the match. Brad Talbot’s rampaging run, provided the opportunity for Powell to move the ball wide for Loughman to cross.

Powell slotted the extras but Camp Hill hit back and scored their only try of the match from an attacking scrum which Barker converted.

Hereford dominated the final 15 minutes and put the pressure on the visitors’ defence. A push-over try credited to Talbot and converted by Powell enabled the Wyesiders to retake the advantage.

And some driving forward play led to Billy Sparey crashing over for the fourth and bonus-point try, which Powell slotted.

Club spokesman Rob Davies said: “Dan Lewis, Jamie Humphreys and Richard Preece won good line-out ball and some of the running and passing by the backs promised more than it delivered. “Ball retention and the breakdown are the pressing concerns for the coaching team.”