Report submitted by Stourbridge RFC

Stourbridge Lions 25, Hereford 26

THE Lions took to the field hoping to bounce back from an opening day defeat against a Hereford team that had begun their season with a 25-25 draw against Stoke.

The home team dominated the opening exchanges and it was no surprise when the Lions took the lead following a close range line-out drive from which scrum-half Will King darted over.

Fly-half Ben Trinham scored the difficult conversion from out wide to open up a 7-0 lead.

The Lions continued to make inroads into Hereford's defence with some enterprising backs moves which were met with determined resistance from the visitors and their experienced pack, who started to drive the hosts up the field resulting in two quick penalties reducing the Lions lead to 7-6.

The Lions continued to press their visitors but a loose pass in Hereford's 22 enabled their full-back to race 60 metres before offloading in the tackle for captain Tom Ewins to score a converted try.

A further penalty just before the break gave the Wyeside team a 7-16 lead.

The Lions began the second half as they had the first and pressed back their visitors resulting in two quick Ben Trinham penalties, reducing the deficit to three points before producing the try of the game.

Turnover ball in the Lions 22 was quickly recycled and some enterprising passing between forwards and backs moved them up the field giving winger Chase Edwards a 25 metre run to score in the corner for an 18-16 lead.

Back came Hereford driven by their forwards to score two quick unconverted tries taking them to a seemingly unassailable 18-26 lead with less than ten minutes to go.

The Lions though, refused to give up and further good handling resulted in a try from a driving maul touched down out wide by back row Richard Pennock, which was converted with an excellent Trinham kick to reduce the Hereford lead to a single point.

The last few minutes were well contested but the Hereford defensive structure was equal to the task and the final score remained at 25 points to 26 with the Lions getting the losing bonus point that their efforts richly deserved.

This competitive display will give the Lions great hopes of securing their first victory in Midlands One West this Saturday at Lutterworth.