Northwich 9 pts Hereford 18.

HEREFORD produced probably their best Midlands One West away performance of the season to gain their third success on the road.

In poor conditions and after a difficult journey, the Wyesiders made a good start but fell behind when Chris Dutoy converted the penalty.

Hereford immediately returned to the attack and after 13 minutes, Matt Hallett picked up a Dean Powell cross kick to dive over for the first try.

Charlie Loughman was unable to convert from near the touchline and, shortly afterwards, Hereford scrum-half Gary Preece was forced to leave the field with a hamstring injury.

Loughman took over at scrum-half and forward Alex Hickinbotham replaced him on the wing.

In the final minutes of the half, Northwich skipper Rick Smith was yellow-carded but the visitors were unable to add to their tally.

In the early stages of the second-half, the sides exchanged penalty goals, Dean Powell obliging for the visitors.

And continuing Hereford pressure told when a scrum was driven over the line for Ali McColl to touch down for a try. Powell converted to take the Hereford lead to nine points.

The weather had now deteriorated and the ball was difficult to hold, but Hereford continued to control the game and allowed Northwich few opportunities to attack. The home side were restricted to one Dutoy penalty and a further long-range attempt which narrowly failed before, with under 10 minutes to go, a second Powell penalty confirmed a well-deserved win for Hereford.

“This had to be a whole team performance,” said Hereford spokesman Rob Davies. “Northwich made us fight all the way and every player contributed to the result.

“Giles Sayner, starting for the first time at openside flanker was everywhere the ball was, young James Parker had his best first team game to date, Loughman filled in at scrum-half with a strong performance and Hickinbotham, playing out of position on the wing, had a sound defensive game.

“This was a good grafting team performance, not pretty, but effective."

Coventry Technical 0 pts Greyhound 26.

GREYHOUND have raced to the top of Midlands Five West (South) after a conclusive away success.

In dreadful conditions, Greyhound were quickly out of the traps with Elliot Phillips going over for the first try with only seven minutes played. Will Prothero kicked the conversion but was unable to repeat his success when Phillips went over shortly afterwards.

Jamie Gibbons scored the third try, which Prothero converted, before Tom Spellane marked his return to the side after injury with the final try to which Prothero again added the extra points.