Banbury failed to lay their away bogey but came out of their 9-3 defeat at Hereford with great credit.
Forced by injuries to change three of their threequarters, Paul Cartwright, Stuart Viggers and Sam Adlen were replaced by Alex Stramrood, Chris Fellows and James Taylor.
However, the young stand-ins didn't let the side down on a pitch that finished like a First World War battlefield.
Hereford took the lead with a penalty after ten minutes, Banbury equalising on the half-hour with a penalty by fly half Ben Harrison.
Level 3-3 at half-time, Hereford regained the lead with two more penalties.
Banbury came back strongly, with Simon Chatterton supreme in the line-outs and the back row of Rob Cockerton, Ed Cummings and Will Brooks driving up the field, but they could not find a breakthrough.
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