Leominster received a hot welcome back to action after the holiday break when they were overwhelmed by visiting Cirencester who raced to a 10-1 win in the Gerrard West of England and South Wales League North Division 2.

Leominster, although badly short of match practice and missing a number of players through injury and other commitments, took an early lead when Johnny Briggs scored following a short corner.

The North Herefordshire club then created some good openings but, with leading scorer Rob Goodman sidelined due to a knee injury, lacked their usual touch in front of goal.

Cirencester, the division's top scorers, had no such problems finding the net, however, and rattled in three goals in the first period.

Then, with Leominster committed to pushing forward in an attempt to salvage something from the game, the home side were hit repeatedly as the Gloucestershire side emerged with a convincing victory.

Hereford resumed with an important win as they emerged with a 3-2 success from a closely-fought encounter at Cardiff University in North Division 1.

The city side fell behind after a defensive error but fought back to level when skipper Colin Amos followed up to score after the Cardiff goalkeeper had saved a Jon Mundy shot.

After the interval, Chris Weale put Hereford in front following a short corner but, with Weale in the sin-bin after disputing a decision, the hard-pressed Hereford defence conceded a penalty.

Goalkeeper Jim Wallis, Hereford's man of the match, came to Hereford's rescue by bringing off a fine save but was unable to prevent the home side from equalising shortly afterwards.

Hereford's strength of character came through, however, and they claimed the winner when Mark Allen and Mundy linked up to put Andy Rogers clear. He netted with a good finish to earn only Hereford's second win of the season.

Hereford 2nd and Leominster 2nd suffered differing fortunes in North-East West District 1 with Mike Broadie firing a hat-trick for Hereford, who won 5-2 at Cheltenham 4th, while Leominster crashed 4-0 at Firebrands 5th.

Ross, meanwhile, carried on their good form from the previous week with a useful 2-1 win over North Bristol 4th in North-East West District 3.

Ross, missing three players from midfield with two on holiday and skipper Andy Ridgway umpiring, had to reorganise their side but still pushed forward and found themselves a goal up through a fine strike by Richard Harbottle.

Play then flowed from end to end, but Ross managed to extend their lead just before half-time with a goal from Andy Cross.

North Bristol pulled a goal back with 20 minutes to play but the youthful enthusiasm of Phil Evans and the experience of Wilem Haagen helped to steer Ross to victory.