HEREFORD RFC saw their winning run come to an abrupt end as local rivals Malvern were ruthless with their chances clinching a 12-33 victory.

The Wyesiders made a good start with a second minute converted try, but by half-time were losing by 7-22 behind and failed to fight back after the break.

Disappointed head coach Scott Sturdy said: “It was a difficult day at Wyeside, playing against a very good Malvern team, after our excellent run of form in recent weeks, we weren’t quite at the races.

“We started the game well, got ourselves in front, but then unfortunately were quite wasteful with a number of chances.

“To be fair to Malvern, the three chances they had in the first half, they took them all. They built scoreboard pressure and we found it hard to get back into the game in the second half. “

“There are lots of areas to improve on and it shows we are not the finished article yet.”

Hereford took an early lead when a loose pass was picked off by Levi Hughes, who raced the length of the field to open the scoring with a try converted by Freddie Spencer.

Hereford held the seven-point lead for 15 minutes until the Malvern out-half  gathered the ball and fed a runner who crossed for a try. The successful conversion levelled the score.

Malvern took the lead with a second converted try and then followed it with a third, which took the interval score to 7-21 at half-time.

In the second half a greasy surface on the pitch made good handling difficult. There was little continuity and both sides missed scoring chances.

Malvern secured their try-bonus with their fourth try and followed it ten minutes later with a nice try to seal their win.

Hereford never gave up and finished the game with a good handling movement, ending up with a well taken try from Joe Vaughan.

This week the 1870s had a rest week, but are back in action next week when they entertain Trinity Guild at Wyeside, while the Hereford team travel to Old Halesonians.