Walsall start their centenary celebrations with a bang

The newly-promoted hosts pushed forward from the start in their Regional Two West Midlands clash, and saw a Will Hennessy crash just wide of the upright after three minutes.

However he was soon on target to convert a Pete Fitzgerald try after he broke through from close range.

Walsall impressive forward drives and strong running saw them make their mark again later in the first half, as scrum half Dean Ainger crashed over the line near the corner flag, and Hennessy expertly converted it.

The last action of the half saw Walsall scrum push forward towards the Hereford try-line. The visitors illegally stopped the drive which resulted in the referee awarding a penalty try to the hosts.

The second half followed a similar pattern but Walsall struggled to convert their pressure into points.

A Hennessey penalty from 40 metres after 53 minutes was the only score of the half until the final five minutes.

A Walsall counter-attack resulted in Ainger notching his second try of the game and once against Hennessy was on target to convert.

The final action of the game then saw Lewis Jordan score a late consolation try for Hereford.

Elsewhere in the league, Wolverhampton also picked up an impressive win to take them top of the division after the first weekend.

A dominant display saw them beat Droitwich 59-10, while Old Halesonians wrapped up a winning weekend for the Black Country clubs by beating Malvern 36-7.

Stourbridge made a disappointing start to their National Two West campaign with a 43-8 defeat away to Redruth.

A first-half Christopher Scott penalty gave the visitors hope but after 33 minutes Chad Thorne was sent off and Stourbridge were unable to recover.

Dallas Ororo scored a 62nd-minute consolation try but the game was already out of reach.

In Regional One Midlands, Dudley Kingswinford fell to a narrow 27-21 loss away at Kenilworth.

Benjamin Rhodes scored the first try, converted by Samuel Vaughan, while Jake Thompson scored their second try. Vaughan also notched three penalties.

In the same division, Lichfield lost 32-26 to Derby.

In Counties One Midlands West (North), Stafford won 34-18 away at Newcastle.

Tries from Stelian-Christian Ureche and Brett Corcoran, both converted by Ureche, got them off to a good start before Ureche also added some more points from a penalty. Callum Hoy added a try in the second half, which was converted by Kevin van der Leest before Jeremia Qasenivalu added the final try, converted by Ureche. The last action then saw Van der Leest score a penalty.

Stourbridge Lions also lost 51-13 to Luctonians seconds.

In Counties One Midlands West (South), Kidderminster lost 12-10 to Broadstreet Seconds.

Meanwhile in Counties Two Midlands West (North), Burntwood lost 20-7 to Oswestry and Aldridge were convincingly beaten 53-5 by Veseyans.

In Counties Three Midlands West (North), Cannock started their season with a 34-10 loss away at Willenhall.