HEREFORD RFC suffered late heartbreak when a try in the last play of the game resulted in Malvern taking a 13-12 victory.
The Wyesiders looked on the verge of victory thanks to Ben Hyde’s second half try, only for Malvern to score the latest of winning tries.
A disappointed head coach, Dean Powell said: “Our pack was dominant and our defence was really firm, but indiscipline and poor decisions, mainly from the back line, allowed Malvern to continually return to our half.
“In the second half Sam Roberts, Josh Wright and James Pattison kicked us into good field positions, but poor decisions and gifting too many penalties cost us dearly, this is our Achilles heel and if we don’t get it right, we’ll pay the price by ending up near the bottom of the league again.
“When, with the score at 8 – 12, the referee signalled that there were only about ninety seconds left to go, we were unable to close the game off. This has happened too often before and if it continues it may well come back to haunt us.”
Malvern took a three-point lead after 25 minutes, slotting a penalty goal from 30 yards. Hereford made just one first half entry into the Malvern red zone, but were disappointed to be penalised for a scrummaging offence which allowed Malvern to clear their lines.
The first half was a scrappy affair with Malvern having the more chances, often gifted by the Wyesiders and the score remained at 3-0 at the interval.
Hereford started the second half confidently, and the referee awarded the visitors a penalty try and a Malvern player a yellow card.
However, some more poor decision making allowed Malvern into the Hereford 22 and some sloppy defending cost the visitors a try which was not converted.
Hereford persisted, stayed in the fight and were rewarded with a penalty for a forearm to Luke Fisher’s face, which earned Malvern another yellow card.
The penalty was kicked to the corner and great work from the Hereford pack allowed Ben Hyde to touch down for the try.
The conversion attempt from 15 yards from touch was just wide, leaving the score at 8-12.
With just minutes to go some contentious decisions and a couple of penalty awards allowed Malvern to retain the ball, go into our 22 and score with the last play of the game 13-12.
The 1870s game with Droitwich II was cancelled due to Droitwich being unable to raise a team. Next week Hereford host county neighbours Luctonians II at Wyeside, whilst the 1870s travel to Dudley Kingswinford.
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