Kenilworth Men's First XV continued their strong start to the season with an emphatic 50-10 victory away against a Hereford side who themselves had started their Midlands 1 West campaign well.

Hereford's Wyeside ground is a notoriously tough place to go, the exuberant local support always keen to have their say on the performance of the opposition or the referee.

However the Kenilworth squad arrived in a confident mood on the back of three successive bonus point victories and started the game well.

The scrum soon asserted their superiority, a theme that continued throughout the match with Jake Dodd, Matt Tilt, George Walsh and replacement prop David Bromfield giving the host front row a torrid time.

The scrum penalties mounted up and after a kick to the corner the pack rumbled over with Jake Dodd claiming the first try which was converted by Tyler Price.

Hereford weren't in the mood to take this frontal assault lightly and shortly afterwards drove over the Kens line for their own catch and drive try which was converted.

More scrum pressure from Kens caused another penalty which was despatched to the corner, the same method and result saw prop George Walsh crash over, Price narrowly missed the conversion to put the visitors 12-7 up.

Both sides were showing huge commitment in attack and defence and after yet another scrum penalty, Price kicked to the corner.

But the decision to throw long caused a turnover. However from the resultant Hereford ruck, skipper Bobby Thompson charged down the clearance kick and drove over the line for a converted try.

To their credit Hereford tore back and caused the Kens defence plenty of problems as the home crowd found their voices.

A superb covering tackle from Ben Harrison prevented a try but shortly afterwards an infringement led to a penalty converted by the home centre to make it 19-10.

The match was certainly still in the balance and Kenilworth's task became tougher when centre Todd Freemantle was carded for a dangerous tackle, although the retribution from the Hereford lock probably warranted some action too.

The period leading to half time saw 14-man Kenilworth repel the home attacks with well organised and energetic defence and it remained 19-10 at half time with Kenilworth playing uphill in the second half.

With Freemantle still in the bin the Kenilworth pack continued to dominate play and deny the home side the possession they needed to capitalise on their numerical advantage.

A series of attacking scrums on the Hereford 5m inexplicably didn't lead to a penalty with the referee insistent that the set piece was merely wheeling. The ball was turned over and cleared after a hand got in the way of Gareth's Renowden's scrum feed.

However the pressure exerted by the visiting eight had taken it's toll on an increasingly weary home pack, especially in the mid Autumn sun, and it came as no surprise when Kenilworth breached the Hereford defence with an unconverted try for lock Tom Naismith.

This was soon followed up by a textbook catch and drive which was finished by George Walsh for his second try, Tyler Price slotted the extras to make it 31-10 and the home side's heads began to drop a little.

The victory was sealed from the restart when quick hands from the backs, including a superb one handed swipe pass from Price, released replacement full back Garrett Bell and he galloped home from half way for another converted try.

The Kenilworth side were now well and truly on top and after yet more pressure down the left hand side winger Ben Harrison barrelled over for another try which did not get converted.

The performance was capped off fittingly by another catch and drive try which was claimed by the tireless workhorse Jonny Openshaw. Price added the extras to bring up the half century and the referee blew the whistle a few minutes later with the final score Hereford 10 Kenilworth 50.

This was certainly set up to be Kenilworth's biggest test of the season so far and their all round performance was easily the best of their four matches played in Midlands 1 West.

The forward dominance was critical in tiring the home side and keeping the scoreboard moving. The back line came into their own in the second half and the attacking phases are improving each week as the team gel even further.

Next week Kenilworth are at home to Worcester RFC and this is preceded by a lunch for the club's volunteers and coaches across all sections. Please email [email protected] to book your space - free to volunteers and coaches, £20 for guests.