FRUSTRATED Malvern had to be content with a 25-25 home draw in a feisty National Three Midlands derby with a physical Hereford side.

Malvern made early inroads and Jay Martin put in powerful breaks before Adam Dixon’s ninth-minute penalty gave them a short-lived lead.

Dean Powell replied to equalise and put over another on 24 minutes after scrappy play to give the Wyesiders the lead for the first time.

But Malvern bounced back when the ball was popped out to Will Farris on the wing and the youngster scored down the narrowest of channels. Malvern started to dominate in the pack with Matt Williams putting in a strong performance.

Hereford’s indiscipline cost them in terms of penalties but they weathered the Malvern storm.

A minute before half-time, Hereford winger Sean Day ran in a try and Powell converted.

It took only three minutes of the second period for Malvern to retake the lead. Their pack drove deep into Hereford territory with hooker Andy Murphy bursting through to score and set up Dixon’s conversion.

Dixon increased the lead with another penalty and centre Tom Hale sped through to add a converted try.

With 20 minutes left, Malvern led by 12 points and crucially missed a penalty when they should have kicked to the corner.

It gave Hereford hope and Osborne won the chase from a kick to put them back in the hunt. As Hereford fought back, Malvern conceded penalties and a late line-out was forced.

With the visiting pack camped on the Malvern line, centre Rabuka scored to set up Powell’s equalising conversion with the last kick.

Malvern director of rugby David Robins said: “We didn’t kill them off — one more try would have done it.

“Had the penalty gone over, we would still have taken the game but hindsight is no substitute for missed opportunities. However, it was still a spirited performance against a hard, physical side.”