PERRY Pudge scored a hat-trick of tries as Hereford opened their New Year account in perfect style with a convincing 25-6 success against Walsall in Midlands 1 West.

The win leaves the Wyesiders in fourth place in the table and will be hoping for more points when they travel to Whitchurch this Saturday.

"The forwards battled well with Dan Lewis and Richard Preece doing well in the line-out," said Hereford spokesman Rob Davies.

"The scrum was stable and the back-row, with Matt Pritchard leading the youngsters by example, got through a lot of work.

"The coach, Bob Stewart, was delighted with the way the team played and it showed they can play in their preferred open style."

Played in difficult conditions during to heavy morning rain, Walsall took an early lead via a Roger Weston penalty.

The Wyesiders were awarded their own penalty three minutes later, which was converted by Morgan Goodall before they took the lead in the 20th minute.

A slick passing move, started in their own half, resulted in Pudge to score his first try, with Morgan adding the extras.

Walsall responded by putting the Hereford defence under sustained pressure and forcing a penalty, which Weston slotted over.

The home side continued to show commendable enterprise and the backs, well led by Dean Powell and Richard Chandler, created chances.

They extended their lead following another Goodall penalty to go into the half-time break 13-6 ahead.

Hereford pressurised the Walsall defence from the start of the second half and a series of forward drives ended in them crossing the Walsall line.

The referee judged the ball had held up and restarted with a five-metre scrum.

Two Walsall players were shown yellow cards for professional fouls and from the scrum, the ball was moved out wide for Pudge to score under the posts.

Goodall successfully converted and Hereford began to exert their authority.

Walsall were reduced to 14 players when Rod Dixon was sent-off following an altercation with Hereford's Matt Pritchard, which also saw Pritchard sin-binned.

As a game draw to a close, a decisive run by Tom Ewins, followed by an off-load to Goodall, led to Pudge to complete his hat-trick.