DUDLEY Kingswinford secured their third successive victory as they overcame Hereford at Heathbrook.

DK won 41-19 last Saturday to stay on the coat tails of Midlands One West's top three.

A first half hat-trick of tries from winger Charles Baffour set them on their way.

The success leaves them three points off third-placed Whitchurch and 12 adrift of second-placed Newbold.

DK renewed their rivalry with Hereford and the opening minutes saw both teams start well and there were some early penalties for offside with the referee making his mark on the game.

Stef Shillingford threw a dummy and was through under the posts to get the hosts up and running, Sam Vaughan made it 7-0.

It was DK who were building the pressure and found themselves on the right wing where a maul developed and the backs were aligned to attack to the left, the ball was released and was quickly in the hands of Vaughan who was able to time his pass to Baffour for the winger to run in for the second.

DK were starting to dominate the game and a period of pressure in the form of phase play, allowed Shillingford the opportunity to exploit a stretched defensive line, and he was clean through for DK’s third, Vaughan added the extras to put the home side 19-0 up.

Hereford reacted well, however, and hit back with two tries of their own. One was converted as the scores narrowed to 19-12.

DK recovered their composure and were starting to make ground. Sam Vaughan and James Fildes had combined well to make ground with the ball in hand and Nick Adams and Baffour had dealt with the aerial bombardment aimed towards the DK left wing.

The hosts were also gaining penalties with Hereford being caught offside. It was from one of these penalties that DK opted for the scrummage and slick handling and decoy runs saw Baffour in for a try on the outside and round towards the posts.

Baffour soon raced in for his hat-trick try before the break as the score moved to 29-12.

Hereford were not done either and added another try to peg the score back to 29-19. DK maintained their lead until half-time with some excellent defensive kicking from Sam Vaughan and Nick Adams.

DK extended away after the break despite heavy rain taking the edge off the expansive rugby.

Vaughan who went in under the posts untouched and converted his own try to make it 36-19. Tommy Walker wrapped up the win with a try in the corner.

Director of rugby Neil Shillingford said: "It was a similar performance to the previous week. We started well but then let them back in it by giving away some silly scores.

"But the main thing is that we reacted well and put that right.

"It was another step forward for us but still left us things to work on."

DK don't have a game this weekend but return with a trip to Longton on February 9.

"Longton is a tricky place to go but we'll keep chasing those bonus points. There are some big games coming up after the break."