Lichfield Colts 3 pts Hereford Colts 31

Hereford Colts eased into the last 16 of the National Colts Cup with a well-earned fourth-round win over Lichfield.

Hereford were guilty of early errors which saw four tries disallowed in the first period.

They eventually made the break-through just before the interval when centre Tom Neal went over in the corner to lead 5-0 at the interval.

A penalty early in the second period cut arrears for the home side but, after that, it was Hereford all the way.

Full-back Kian Bell fielded a Lichfield kick ahead on half way and broke through a number of tackles to score under the posts.

Eli Lovell added the extra points.

Then scrum-half Jack Aldous-Fountain, introduced from the bench at half-time, picked up a loose ball and darted over to register the third try, which Eli Lovell converted to take the Hereford lead to 19-3.

Hereford continued to run with the ball at every opportunity and some slick inter-passing enabled Bell to complete his hat-trick with a couple of tries one of which was converted by Leon Yeboah-Parsons. This enabled the Wyesiders to run out winners by 31 points to 3.

"The result was a testament to the character of the team," said spokesman Robin Davies.

"In the first half, nothing seemed to go right but they held on defending well and staying with their game plan.

In the second half, passes started to stick, discipline improved and a deserved success was the result.

"This was a team effort in which the whole squad contributed to the result and there were some outstanding performances.

"Sam Iles and James Barton-Turner both had excellent cup rugby debuts, Eli Lovell had a great game on his comeback after a lay-off for injury sustained playing for the North Midlands, hooker Lewis Goodridge played well in the loose, as well as doing his job in the set pieces and Jack Aldous-Fountain added spark with his second half performance."