Malvern 34 pts Hereford 37

HEREFORD warmed up for their crucial Midlands One West top-of-the table battle with Burton at Wyeside on Saturday with a comeback success at Malvern.

But it was a patchy display from the city side who had trailed by 17 points at the interval.

"I was disappointed with the first-half performance, but take comfort from the character shown in making the second half come-back," said Harris. "A five-point win is a consolation for the poor first-half showing.

"Burton are one place above us in second place. They have a game in hand and it is a “must win” game for any play-off hopes we might have.”

Malvern took a lead after three minutes with a try from Jordan Hillier, converted by Tom Langley.

The Wyesiders reduced the deficit when Scott Robinson took a ball against the head and Tom Ewins scored in the corner.

But Malvern stretched away again with a try from James Anderson, converted by Tom Langley who also added a penalty goal.

Ewins touched down for his second try with Dean Powell adding the conversion but Malvern took the interval score to 29-12 with tries from Adam Dixon and Euan Mustow and one further conversion from Longley.

Perry Pudge began the fight back with a try in the corner, which Powell converted and went on to kick a penalty.

Hereford drew level when skipper Ali McColl went over for the bonus-point try which Powell again converted and the Wyesiders moved ahead for the first time with an unconverted try from Chris Allman.

Mustow again levelled the scores with an unconverted score and there were chances for both sides in a nail-biting final few minutes before Powell landed a penalty to seal the win.

"It is difficult to explain the Hereford team’s poor first half performance, maybe an element of complacency, but nothing should be taken away from a Malvern performance that was much better than their league position might suggest," said Hereford spokesman Robin Davies.

Hereford 2nd beat Malvern 2nd 33-7 at Wyeside with tries from Aaron Treagus 2, Dan Mills, Liam Shaw and Colin Osbourne with George Eynon adding four conversions.

Pics from John Cullum are:

Ali McColl's try

Tom Ewins' first try