HEREFORD RFC head coach Scott Sturdy praised the strength and creativity of the opposition backs as his side suffered a 57-28 defeat at Cheltenham.

Hereford travelled to play on the artificial pitch against Cheltenham Tigers in one of the few games that took place in the North Midlands on Saturday.

The Wyesiders were still in the same at 33-21 at the interval before the hosts added four tries to Hereford’s one and ran out clear winners.

“A very entertaining game for the neutral spectator with lots of very good tries scored.” said Sturdy.

“The Cheltenham side was extremely strong with several players who didn’t feature in the game at Wyeside.

“Some of the backs on show were exceptional. Elusive, strong and powerful, they demonstrated creativity as well.

“It was really pleasing that we scored the fourth try. This was a really well worked try.

“We were rusty in defence after no outdoor training for best part of a month and we need to improve our execution in the red zone.

“We shall be working hard in training before we take on back-to-back fixtures with Ludlow and Ledbury over the next two weekends.”

Hereford took an early lead with a try following a catch and drive, touched down by Scott Robinson, the extras were added by Iwan Holder.

Cheltenham responded with a three-try burst in a 10-minute period, all of which were converted.

Hereford punched back with two tries of their own.

A second try for Robinson again from a driving maul and then a try from Ollie Hutcheson, who followed up a cross-field kick from Dean Powell.

Holder improved both tries to bring Hereford level at 21-21.

Cheltenham then picked up a yellow card and this might have let Hereford back into the game.

However, the hosts’ response was immediate with two tries in the run up to half-time, one of which was converted.

Hereford failed to make the most of their chances and suddenly Cheltenham’s lead had stretched to 33-21 at the interval.

Cheltenham came out strongly in the second half and scored two tries, one converted and again Hereford failed the most of their chances.

Throughout the game Hereford had 10 visits into their opponent’s 22, showing the pressure they tried to apply in terms of field position, but their execution was not as good as Cheltenham’s.

Hereford did though score a fourth try, giving them a bonus point.

Hereford set up a sweeping edge to edge handling movement involving forwards and backs, a nice wrap-round play from Josh Wright and a good finish from Hutcheson sealed the try which was converted by Holder with an excellent kick from the touchline.

Some poor Hereford tackling helped Cheltenham score a couple more tries before the death, one of which was converted and took the final score to 57-28.

Next Saturday there is a double header at Wyeside when the Hereford RFC team plays Ludlow and the 1870s play table topping Woodrush.