HEREFORD go into their crunch top-of-the-table clash this weekend on the back of a fine victory at Leek.

The city side cemented their second place spot in Midlands 1 West with a 30-12 win at the mid-table Staffordshire side.

The win was ideal preparation for their home clash with table-toppers Newport (Salop) this Saturday as both vie for promotion.

Last Saturday's win wasn't as comfortable as the scoreline suggests, however, as Hereford ran in 22 points in the final 15 minutes.

The game was played at a high tempo with the hosts having the better of the first half, but solid Hereford defence restricted them to just three penalty goals.

The highlight of the first period was a fine break from Tom Ewins before off-loading to Perry Pudge, who set-up James Harris for the first Hereford try.

A Dean Powell penalty completed the first-half scoring and the teams changed ends with Leek holding a narrow 9-8 lead.

The second half started in a similar vein with Leek adding another penalty goal before man-of-the-match Perry Pudge scored a try.

Powell improved Pudge’s try and added a penalty goal before Matt Milsom scored a third try which Powell converted.

Stand-in scrum half Nat Thomas then scored a late try to give Hereford a bonus point.