DUDLEY Kingswinford made hard work in disposing of a hard working but limited Hereford side.

They achieved total dominance early on in the set scrums and raced into a 21-7 first half lead.

DK made their first change of the season with Stefan Shillingford returning to the centre after injury, replacing Tom Weaver who took a place on the bench after leaving the field with a knock last week. Tom Bissell and Luke Greenwood made up the other bench places.

The DK front five again decimated the opposition and Hereford had no answer to the home side’s raw power in the pack.

The back row was in constant motion and Tui Asi Pito literally ran himself into the ground in an all action performance that earned him the DK Supporters Man of the Match accolade.

Yet it was the visitors who made all the early running and pinned DK back inside their own half for the first 12 minutes. DK finally managed an attack and a fine break through the middle by Ian Langford saw him hauled down just short.

The hosts kept up the pressure and a scrum on the Hereford line saw the ball moved wide. But with seeming certain the final pass was wayward and was superbly picked off by Hereford right wing Charlie Loughman, who pinned back his ears to fly 75 metres to the posts for a fine score.

DK responded immediately when good foraging from Greg Lewis saw him rescue a loose ball. A fine break from Simon Fletcher split the Hereford cover and quick hands from him and Jon Higgins sent in Stefan Shillingford. Jon Higgins converted and it was all square at 7-7 after 17 minutes.

DK were beginning to turn the screw and after going close a couple of times they scored a second try after 23 minutes. Al Francis fielded a Hereford clearance and broke forward to set up a ruck, from which the ball was flung swiftly down the line for Matt Farrington to score an excellent try in the corner.

Now in full flow DK scored a third try a minute later. Shillingford powered out of the DK 22 to feed Duncan Chance and the right wing flew past a couple of defenders on the outside, stepped a couple more as he sped onward towards the Hereford line and his sheer pace left the rest of the cover in shreds as he touched down at the posts. Higgins converted for DK to lead 21-7 and an avalanche of points seemed on the cards.

But it didn’t happen as DK began to lose a little concentration and the only other score of the first half was a Richard Rees penalty for Hereford after 37 minutes to make it 21-10.

A determined DK camped on the Hereford line from the outset of the second half but they had lost a little of their first half fluency. A couple more opportunities were squandered before a strong rolling maul did the trick with Asi Pito being driven over to earn DK a bonus point for their fourth try of the game. Higgins converted to increase the DK lead to 28-10 after 45 minutes.

With the DK pack shoving the overworked Hereford eight from pillar to post, it really should have been a doddle from here, especially as Hereford centre Simon Sable was sin binned after 49 minutes for tackling Farrington without the ball.

But again it didn’t happen.

An unnecessary penalty after 67 minutes enabled Hereford to make ground up the right hand touchline, from where second row Ali McColl surged over for a well worked try to make the score 28-15.

This score restored DK’s focus to a degree, as they stormed forward to redress the balance. Replacements Tom Weaver, Tom Bissell and Luke Greenwood had all taken the field from the bench and injected a little more urgency.

Strong play from Greg Lewis took the ball almost up to the Hereford line, from where a delightful delayed pass from Higgins totally conned the visitor’s defence and Tom Weaver strolled in for DK’s fifth try of the afternoon to make the final score 33-15.