Hereford RFC head coach Sean Lynn on 33-21 defeat to Melbourne

It was the Wyesiders' fourth away defeat of the season and they will be looking to bounce back this Saturday when they host Moseley Oak.

"We were not good enough on the day," said Lynn.

"Take nothing away from Melbourne, they showed good character and wanted the win more than we did.

"They went into an early 14-0 lead and we came back to level the score by half time.

"But they showed character in the second half and in the final quarter we just fell apart.

"We will have to go back to the drawing board.”

Melbourne had a vigorous pack of forwards and their main attacking thrust came from some driving rucks and mauls.

During the first 20 minutes, they kept pressure on the Hereford line and came away with two converted tries.

Hereford improved and some promising handling movements came to nothing before they were awarded a penalty.

Bryn Goodall found a good touch inside the Melbourne 22, Luke Yarranton won the lineout and the ball was slipped to Connah Harding who raced over for the first Hereford try.

A Melbourne forward was then shown a yellow card, which was followed by another home player sent to the sin bin, as well as Hereford's Matt Pritchard.

As the interval approached, Hereford drew level with a try when the forwards drove over following a lineout and Yarranton touched down; Goodall adding the conversion.

The second half started in similar vein with Melbourne going through the phases inside the Hereford 22.

They eventually released the ball, moved it wide and crossed the Hereford goalline in the corner.

But with 20 minutes left, Hereford took the lead for the first and only time.

A lineout was won and the forward drive carried over the goalline for Lewis Jordan to touch down and James Stubbs added the conversion.

However, Melbourne capitalised on poor decision making by Hereford and scored two further converted tries, preventing the away side from claim a losing bonus point.