Hereford away for a first fixture was always going to be tough and with 4 key players injured or unavailable just 16 lads made the trip. The home side started in confident mood and Bees were on the defensive right away. Their first three tries in the opening 13 minutes were all due to errors from the visitors, two of which were when we had the ball. At 19-0 it seemed it would be a rather long afternoon!
However, with the 80 minute journey out of their system the game began to change as Bees started to gain some possession and keep control of the ball. A series of close drives saw scrum half Owen Walker dart for the line and flanker Jacob Lisle was in support to go over. Fly half Hari Ladwa saw his conversion drift just wide.
The second half saw the visitors continue where they had left off and for 10 minutes the forwards began to do more than hold their own against a much bigger Hereford pack with good drives from their second rows Reece Parkinson and Finn Suttie, ably supported by the front row of Shaun Pollard, Chris Jay and Dan Truepenny. Number 8 Luke Smith, together with Lisle added their weight with some fine drives in the loose. Having camped in the Hereford half impressive runs from winger Harry Garratt and full back Ben Cooper saw Bees close but a lack of support meant the opportunities went begging. In fact at one of these breakdowns the home side counter attacked in some style and scored against the run of play to make it 26-5 with 12 minutes left.
Bees refused to give up and responded well when they were rewarded with a second try from Garratt who out sped the defence after a fine three quarter move. Ladwa converted from the touchline. At 12-26 another converted try would have given them a well earned bonus point but it was not to be as Hereford had the final say in the last minute with their fifth try as Bees began to tire.