Hereford 25 pts Whitchurch 16 pts.

FORMER Luctonians head coach Andy Williams is leading Hereford Rugby Club’s charge in Midlands One West this season.

The ex-Worcester Warriors player is helping Hereford’s head coach Mark Harris in training sessions at Wyeside.

Harris even hopes the former Wales international might be willing to slip on his playing boots if a scrum-half crisis happens to arise.

“Having good coaching staff alongside me is invaluable to help the boys to achieve the goals that we, and they, have set themselves,” said Harris.

“I know Andy Williams well, so I just gave him a ring and asked if he fancied helping us out, he accepted and it’s been brilliant.”

The former Luctonians head coach has been well received by the players and is involved heavily in the training side, coming up once or twice a week to pass on his knowledge.

“Andy’s knowledge of the game is brilliant, he can give different views on the game and a fresh look which is really helping the team,” said Harris.

“With him here now, as well as Bob Stewart, and with Tony Shaw coaching the seconds, we’ve got a really good set-up going.”

Harris thinks that Williams could still be playing and is keen to get him in the Hereford line-up.

“I’d love to get him playing, I’m dying to get him signed on,” he said.

“I think he would play if we were struggling to put out a scrum-half due to injuries, but we’ve got two nines.”

With Saturday’s 25-16 derby victory over promotion-rivals, Whitchurch, Hereford now sit third in the table, a position that is the minimum goal set by the club as promising centre, Tom Ewins explained.

“We are aiming for a top three finish and if we can beat the top three teams we should reach our target. “Unfortunately we’ve already lost to Burton away, but they’ve still got to come here, so if we win those games we’ll get there,” he said.

Ewins was last season’s top try-scorer for Hereford but he is yet to get off the mark this term.

“I’m sure, later on in the season, the boys will give me a bit of stick but the boys have all chipped in with tries this year and we’ve made a good start. “I’m sure if we had lost a couple more it would be different.”

Saturday’s game was played in difficult conditions with the rain lashing down for the whole of the first-half.

But it was the strength of the Hereford pack, led by the inspirational captain Ali McColl, and the right boot of Morgan Goodall that saw Hereford fight their way to a vital win.

A scrappy first-half only came to life five minutes from half-time when Hereford’s dogged defence was finally breached by a rolling maul.

Whitchurch led 11-9 at the interval and scored a second try from a rolling maul to open up 16-12 advantage with 30 minutes remaining.

From then on, the Hereford pack, led by McColl, began to dominate.

Whitchurch conceded a host of penalties and Goodall duly took advantage, slotting two crucial kicks.

McColl made the game safe with his try, breaking off from the back of a scrum to crash through a tiring Whitchurch defence.

Dean Powell’s conversion denied Whitchurch a losing bonus point and that might be crucial in the promotion race at the end of the term.