BOTH Hereford and Monmouth 2nd emerged happy from Monday's meeting of the Flint & Cook Marches League which saw both installed in Division 2 for the coming season.

Originally Monmouth had been placed in Division 3, with newcomers Hereford set to make their league bow in Division 2, but a change of heart by the league's executive committee saw their recommendation to Monday's meeting rever-sed.

The clubs, however, decided on a compromise by a 17-11 vote which now means that both Divisions 2 and 3 will include 11 teams, resulting in one of the sides having a bye each week.

It appears, however, that each side will still play only 18 fixtures, so not all sides will play each other twice.

This option was preferred over the alternative of extending the season or slotting in fixtures on Sundays.

"We were not contesting that Monmouth should be promoted which was why we put forward the compromise agreement," said Here-ford chairman Richard Watts.

"Although we have lost a lot of players, we still have a good nucleus of experienced players as well as an overseas player.

"We felt that being placed in Division 3 might have caused us to lose a couple more of our experienced players."

Monmouth chairman Chris Brooks said: "As you can imagine we are happy with the decision and looking forward to the challenge of Division 2 cricket."