This was the second meeting between the Hereford Stampede and Worcestershire Black Knights in the 2022 BAFA league season. The Hereford Stampede were 1-0 up in this the matchup between the two sides after an earlier season win 36-6. The Stampede came into this game in great form, off the back of 3 convincing wins and were looking to get another digit in the win column. Worcester also in high spirits after recording their first win in 4 years after an upset against Swindon Storm two weeks prior.
Hereford Stampede started with the ball with the offence coming out with an aggressive ground game. With the Stampede making positive yards across the ground they looked to get the ball moving through the air. After a successful pass to a Stampede WR Chris Morse he made a few players miss but fumbled the ball just before the end zone, giving possession to Worcestershire.
With the stampede gaining recognition across the league for their strong defensive performances they started strong with a tackle for loss coming from DL Luke ‘Lofty’ Griffiths. With the Black Knights losing yards on their offensive plays they were looking to gain field position with a punt but this was subsequently blocked and incredibly caught by LB James Sirrell, who claimed the first touchdown of the game. Hereford Stampede 6-0.
With possession back with Worcestershire the Stampede defence again were on top and ended the Black Knights drive with a sack by LB James Sirrell. The Stampede offence started poorly and were intercepted on the first play back with the ball. This seemed to spur on the Hereford defence and it was much of the same story from the Worcestershire offence, with another sack on their QB by LB Joshua Bolland and DE Aaron Eggerton’s combined effort.
Stampede started well with with the ball back in their possession with a pass down the middle of the Worcestershire defence but this quickly ended with an interception for the Black Knights. After a couple of runs with very little gain, Worcestershire fumbled the ball on a running play which was recovered by DL Will Nicholls. The Stampede offence weren’t able to add to the scoreboard and punted the ball away to the Black Knights.
On their first play of the drive they were intercepted by DB Sean Radburn who returned it for 30 yards, sadly tackled just before getting to the whitewash of the end zone. The Stampede attempted to run the ball into the end zone with time expiring in the half but weren’t able to before the halftime whistle.
The second half started with Worcestershire possessing the ball but started off in the same vein as the first half with the Stampede defence asserting their dominance. With the Hereford offence stuttering in the first half they came out looking to iron out the errors in the second, which started with great running from RB James Sirrell and RB Pete Smith. Then a pass downfield to TE Dave Seymour on a deep crossing route brought Hereford within touching distance of the end zone.
With the short yardage situation the Stampede offence went with a QB sneak which saw QB Stephen Hall in the end zone, doubling the lead to 12-0. Hereford went for two extra points and with the dancing feet of RB James Sirrell secured the score. Hereford 14-0.
Worcester back with possession and looking to get some offence going were hit immediately with another sack for LB Joshua Bolland. Hereford responded on the ground with RB Pete Smith breaking multiple tackles and gaining great yardage. With a quick slant caught by WR Alex Payne in the red zone the Stampede offence could smell another touchdown looming.
The scoreboard was then added to again by QB Stephen Hall running the ball into the end zone making it 20-0 to the home side.
This brought about the full time whistle. The Stampede have now gained 4 wins on the bounce and move to 5-2 on the 2022 season. Next game sees the Stampede travel to Droitwich RFC on Sunday 7th August, where they’ll be looking to end the season on a high and bring home the Betty Pope Memorial Trophy.
Notable Performances
Touchdowns
1 – James Sirrell
2 – Stephen Hall
2 pt Conversions
1 – James Sirrell
Interceptions
1 – Sean Radburn
Fumble Recovery
1 – Will Nicholls
Sacks
1.5 – Josh Bolland
1 – James Sirrell
1 – Russ Field
0.5 – Aaron Egerton
