Stoke 18 Hereford 27

HEREFORD coach Bob Stewart was delighted with an away win to mark the start of the new Midlands One West season.

"I am proud of my young team’s performance against a very good outfit," he said.

"We definitely had the better of the game and made good use of our opportunities.

"There is work to be done in certain aspects of their play, but this was an excellent start to the season."

After 15 minutes Stoke scrum-half Chis Rowley found a gap in the Hereford defence to run half the length of the field to register the first try which was converted by Steve Talbot.

The Wyesiders equalised when Tom Ewins intercepted a Stoke pass inside his own 22.

Although he was caught close to the Stoke goal line, he was able to off-load to Mark Philo who crossed for the try. Morgan Goodall added the extra points.

Philo then played in Sean Day for Hereford’s second try which Goodall converted and he then added a penalty to give the Wyesiders a 17-7 interval lead.

Stoke's right winger Andy Marsh crashed over in the corner for an unconverted try just five minutes into the second period.

A Hereford penalty from Dean Powell was then followed in quick succession by a brace of Stoke penalties, which reduced the Hereford advantage to just two points.

But, appropriately, the final try which sealed a Hereford win fell to skipper Ali McColl, after good work by Sean Day and Connor Sullivan. Powell added the conversion.

Hereford celebrate a first win, back row (left to right), Kieram Hallam (coach), Jock Welch, Gus Lowther, Gareth Jones, Dave Thomas, Tom Ewins, Ben Osborne, Alex Hickinbotham, Harry Jenkins, Richie Preece, Jenny Lightowler (physio); front: Sean Day, Connor Sullivan, Morgan Goodall, Ali McColl (captain), Dean Powell, Mark Philo, Scott Robinson, Nat Thomas, Bob Stewart (coach).