Counties book their place

The result was in the balance until Hereford fly-half Dean Powell kicked the deciding penalty in the seventh minute of injury time with the only score of the second half.

It was a second consecutive group match victory for Worcestershire & Herefordshire following their 29-7 win over Greater Birmingham in last week’s opener. They will now meet the winner of next week’s Shropshire v Greater Birmingham match in the final at Stourbridge on May 18.

There was little to choose between the sides in a tight contest though the Two Counties made the better start with Upton on Severn winger Alex Pimlow crossing for the first try after a searing break from Malvern centre Will Farris.

Powell added the conversion but Shropshire hit back quickly with right wing Ben Williams (Harper Adams University) crossing in the corner five minutes later.

Hereford scrum-half Gary Preece dummied his way over from a ruck for Worcestershire & Herefordshire’s second try which Powell also improved but Shropshire reduced the lead to two points on the half hour.

A line-out catch-and-drive saw Whitchurch lock Matt Evans shunted over for a close range try which Harper Adams fly-half Tom Gravell improved.

Powell and Gravell traded penalties in the dying minutes of the first half which proved to be the final score before Powell struck again in second half injury time.

Gravell was off-target with two penalty attempts midway through the second half and Powell also pushed a penalty wide before he found the target again with the last play of the game.

Shropshire, who beat Greater Birmingham in last season’s final, were handicapped by the withdrawal of three Newport players who were required for club training ahead of Saturday’s Shropshire Cup final and also their Ludlow contingent because of North Midlands Shield commitments.

Shropshire’s final group match against Greater Birmingham will be played at Harper Adams University on May 11 (7.30pm).