HEREFORD RFC started the new year with an away 20-17 victory at Droitwich, with the hosts regretting a last minute knock-on with the line at their mercy.

Tries from Gareth Jones, Lewis Jordan and Tom Ewins gave the Wyesiders a deserved ninth win from 12 matches ahead of the visit of league leaders Dudley Kingswinford this weekend.

Coach Luke Fisher said: “It was a good win on the road for the boys today, a rusty performance, but it was good to get the result away from home and to set 2020 off with a win.

"We made a number of very nice plays and the driving lineout was effective and produced two nice tries. Our defensive performance was sound again, holding out against the pressure that Droitwich applied during the last five minutes of the game."

After showing rustiness early on the Wyesiders took a 22nd minute lead with Jones was driven over by his pack.

Droitwich responded and found a gap out wide to draw level at 10-10 going into half-time.

Jordan put the visitors back ahead after a series of penalties into touch.

The hosts once again responded with a try only for Ewins to run onto a Bryn Goodall chip to score the winning points.