THE 'derby' clash went with form as Malvern Rugby Club blitzed Hereford 55-5 at Spring Lane.

Malvern ran in nine tries in this Midlands Two (West) clash as Hereford's season of woe continued.

The relegation-threatened side, however, stunned the hosts with a breakaway try in the eighth minute through Charlie Langford. That was as good as it got for the Wyesiders.

Malvern hit back with a try from skipper Dave Irish which Andy Longley converted and they were back on track.

Julien Davis and John Martin's passing then set up Richard Fleming who ran in from the wing to score.

Hereford missed a penalty opportunity to close the gap before Malvern upped the pace again, working the ball down the short side with Fleming, who fed inside to Irish for the skipper's second try to add to his birthday celebrations just before half time.

After the restart, Malvern continued to press and a catch and drive move saw Steve Taylor collecting the points and Longley converting.

Mark Eastwood, so strong and difficult to stop, rode through three tackles before releasing Longley for a classic try and subsequent conversion.

Fleming made way for Rhys Hurst, and then Irish collected an ankle injury, Wynne replacing him. The young Welshman made an immediate impact, his ball carrying skills and speed to the breakdown impressing the crowd. Eastwood embraced the full back in the Hereford goal area, forcing the five-metre scrum then a lineout from a penalty. Longley joined the line again to feed Dan Cullen for a well-worked score.

Humphreys then broke free to run in a loose ball from halfway and it was all Malvern. Wynne took the ball into a ruck, the quick move out to the backs saw Longley again join the line at pace and he dummied and swerved through, his conversion bringing up the half-century, then he fittingly collected the Man of the Match award with his hat-trick score courtesy of a Dan Cullen pass.

The win put Malvern up to third place in the table on points difference, a position that pleased director of rugby David Robins.

"We have started to reap the rewards of our rebuilding process after a fairly barren mid-season spell," he said.

"We now have a good blend of youth and experience, and while still a bit light in some areas, the team is gelling well.

"We wore down the heavy but rather portly Hereford front row then let our backs run riot for nine well taken tries."

* Droitwich suffered their worst day of the season when they were thrashed 58-0 at Silhillians in Midlands Three West (South).

Fielding a weak side, due to injuries, did not help the Droitwich cause, but this can not be used as an excuse for a very poor showing.