HEREFORD head coach Scott Sturdy was left frustrated with his Hereford side as they missed first half opportunities during a 22-24 defeat against Silhillians.

The Wyesides battled back from being 14 points behind at half-time thanks to tries by Danny Robson, Ollie Hutcheson and Scott Robinson but fell just short of pulling Silhillians back.

“It was a frustrating weekend,” said Sturdy. “It was a disappointing home performance which was similar to the game against Malvern.

“A lot of chances were missed in the first half and it was frustrating to go 17 – 3 down in the first half. We found some fixes and played much better in the second half, but we don’t want to find ourselves chasing games all the time.

“We want to be in a position to win games rather than draw them. We have to move on now, both sides have a win, a draw and a loss to their name. Next week the Hereford welcome Worcester at Wyeside for a local derby, please come out and support the lads and hopefully we’ll see better performance and better results.”

The Silhillians’ well drilled backs looked dangerous and early in the game broke through in the centre to touch down under the posts for a converted try.

Hereford worked hard to get on terms, but promising approach work often broke down in the visitors 22.

Eventually Hereford won a penalty after a scrum broke down and a Josh Wright kick reduced the deficit to 4 points.

Sils built on their lead with a second converted try and a penalty goal taking the interval score to 4-17.

Playing up the slope in the second half, Hereford found the going hard and were pinned in their own half for 15 minutes.

Eventually a driving run up the middle by Leon Parsons gave them a foothold before Robson drove over for the first try, Wright added the extra points.

Sils responded from the restart, they recovered the ball and set up a three-quarter move which ended with a converted try in the corner.

Hereford set about clawing back the deficit and won a series of penalties before Hutcheson picked up to crash over for a try. The conversion from Wright reduced the Hereford deficit to 17-24.

With time running out, a Hereford scrum was pushed over for skipper Robinson to claim the try, but were denied the draw when the conversion attempt sailed inches wide.

The 1870s came away from Pershore with a 25-25 draw, but the game was ended prematurely due to an unfortunate and serious head injury to Hereford player Ryan Cooper.

Max Cooper scored a hat-trick of tries and Ollie Bonelle the other. Jordan Sheehy landed two kicks, a penalty and a conversion.