A spectacle for the neutral saw Kenilworth come out on top against Hereford.

If you were from Kenilworth, it was a much sought after win which frayed the home support nerves until the final whistle.

It was ably refereed by Warwickshire's Jamie Hughes, who kept the game flowing and penalised both teams when necessary. 

In the opening minutes both sides were in tit-for-tat exchanges with them both defending tenaciously and attacking with intent.

Kenilworth spent more time defending than their opponents. Against the run of play, the opening score came from Kenilworth flanker Max Brain, who scored after a long throw and a driving maul off a lineout.

This was not converted by Charlie Wollaston. 

Hereford replied with a well taken try through inside centre, skipper Mark Philo, who dived over in the corner after an excellent kick through the scrambling Kenilworth defence, by scrum half Ryan Whitnall. Ryan also converted the try to make the score 5 - 7 to Hereford after 27 minutes. 

From the Kenilworth kick off Hereford gathered and went through defensive phases to then kick long When Bobby Thompson gathered, he threw a long pass destined to be intercepted by Mark Philo who scored under the posts.

This was converted by Ryan Whitnall. This was a hammer blow to Kenilworth. The score now was 5 -14 in Hereford's favour. 

On 30 minutes, bizarrely, from Kenilworth's kick off, Hereford attempted to exit, but the scrum half box kick off the ruck was expertly charged down by Kenilworth skipper Ted Bromwich, right winger Hector Smith, gathered the rolling ball and dotted down over the line.

Charlie Wollaston kicked the conversion. 

Hereford then countered and from various phases of play were rewarded with a penalty after Finn Gibson went off his feet at a ruck then back chatted to the referee.

Ryan Whitehall missed the penalty, which he would normally have slotted. 

Both teams at this stage were playing open rugby off the phases and attempting to get to an outside edge with pull backs and dummy runs.

The crucial aspect was how quickly each team got to the ruck to get lightning-fast ball or attempt the turn over and slow the ball down.

Charlie Morris decided to get himself a yellow card after not quite being legal at a ruck after playing the ball on the floor in an offside position.

Hereford capitalised with Charlie in the sin bin, through there good build up play and offloads for fly half Josh Wright to score under the posts. This was converted by scrum half Ryan Whitnall. 

This was just before half time and the score was now 12 - 21. The writing was on the wall for Kenilworth as the match was now slipping away from them. 

The second half saw concerted pressure from Hereford and Kenilworth trying to repel the long kicks for territory. Hereford were rewarded with a kickable penalty after offside at a ruck by Kenilworth.

Scrum Half Ryan Whitnall kicked the penalty which was about 35 metres out and in front of the posts. This made the score 12-24. 

Kenilworth's replacements now played a part with another Gibson brother adding a bit of grunt, spice and edge. It was like throw-back Saturday.

On 80 minutes Kenilworth were awarded with a penalty which Sam Fountaine kicked to the corner. After a lovely catch and drive and several phases, orchestrated by scrum half Gaz Renowden, skipper Ted Bromwich went over again. The score was converted by Sam Fountaine.

The score was now 19 to 24. 

Both teams now made what can only be described as schoolboy errors. With several harem-scarem mistakes.

The saving grace for Kenilworth was their countering of Hereford's driving maul off a lineout. They also had the upper hand in the driving maul off their own lineout, and made several big lengthy metres by using this strategy.

The scrum was also tighter and more dynamic, indeed, in the 90th minute of the game this proved to be the difference.

A mistake by Hereford in their own 22 led to a dominant Kenilworth scrum and Bobby Thompson off the back made several metres.

After pick and goes by the well drilled forwards and four phases, Bobby scored to the left of the upright.

Sam Fountaine coolly converted for the ultimate Kenilworth victory, 26- 24, and a valuable five league points. 

Man of the match for Kenilworth was second row Dan Wildey, who doggedly made metres going forward with the ball and defended manfully. 

Next week Kenilworth men play Shipston on Stour away with a 3pm Kick off.

A pre-match lunch to acknowledge the Mini and Junior section of Kenilworth Rugby Club was held at 12pm prior to the game.

The youngsters who attended, were coached by Senior Coaches, Matt Price, Jimmy Gopperth and Lewis Hall and some members of the playing squad. Meanwhile, the parents and carers were treated to a culinary delight. A great time was had by all, with smiles all round especially from the grateful recipients.