Tenbury 3 Hinton 4

THE UNITED defence had a rare off-day, allowing visiting Hinton to get a flying start to each half, and try as they might the home side were unable to overcome the handicap and lost the seven-goal bonanza at Palmer's Meadow in Division 1 of the West Midlands League.

Hinton were two goals up inside the first four minutes. The Semple brothers combined for the first, a free kick from outside the box headed in at the far-post, and then Jody Dawe slotted in the second after an interception.

Tenbury rallied after the disastrous opening, and after Mike Foster had shot wide from a good position, Ryan Morris reduced the arrears when he squeezed the ball under the keeper. Byron Davies made a spectacular save to keep Ten-bury in contention, Karl Pearson had a shot saved and Colin Powell's penalty claims were waved away.

There were two more goals before the break, Pearson deftly heading home a Matt Kurkus shot for an equaliser, and then Ross Semple restored the Hereford side's lead after another defensive slip.

Tenbury were looking for an early response in the second half, but unfortunately the action was at the wrong end, Dawe netting his second to give his side a cushion. The action became less hectic after this with the deteriorating conditions starting to make their mark.

The Hinton keeper, Dave Spencer handled the wet ball confidently but could not prevent the home side from setting up a tense finish with Aaron Morris beating the off-side trap to net. This proved to be too little too late as Hinton held on to take the points.