IT was a bad week for Herefordshire sides in the West Clubs Women's League Severn Division 1 with Hereford, Leomin-ster and Ross all suffering defeats.

Leominster paid the penalty for some poor early finishing, going down 3-2 at Gloucester 2nd who leap-frogged them to take over third place in the table.

Gloucester's goalkeeper was in top form in the early stages but was finally beaten when Laura Stubbs opened the scoring with a good finish from a well-placed cross, only for the Leominster defence to get caught out and allow the home side to level before the break.

Leominster had the bulk of the play as the second half began but endured all sorts of ill fortune in front of goal, and hit the bar with one shot.

Gloucester made them pay by taking the lead but, once again, Leominster were quickly back on terms when skipper Caroline Hughes delivered a short corner for Karen Hackley to net with an excellent shot.

Gloucester, however, claimed the winner from a short corner in the closing stages and Leominster, this time, were unable to fight back.

Hereford's defeat was even more of a surprise as they went down to only their second defeat of the season, 2-1 at home to a Gloucester 3rd side which had previously won only twice.

Hereford were in the ascendant during most of the early play and the Gloucester goalkeeper was constantly in the action, making some good saves.

Finally, however, the keeper was only able to push out a fine strike from Claire Butler following a short corner and Di Feely netted from the rebound.

The Hereford defence relaxed after the goal and allowed Gloucester to equalise before half-time and the visitors snatched a second after the break.

Hereford 2nd continue to lead the way in Severn Division 2 after a convincing 4-1 home success against Badgers.

The city side went in front in the early stages when Helen Lewis' strike found the back of the net and top scorer Lisa Ferneyhough added another following a goalmouth scramble.

Lewis scored her second after the break but, with Badgers regrouping, Angela Thomas was forced into a number of crucial tackles.

Cath Goodwin and Ferneyhough set up Dwyn Jones to score Hereford's fourth before Badgers claimed a consolation goal close to the end.