UNBEATEN Ewyas Harold were given a tough battle by visiting Weston before retaining top spot in the Hereford Times Herefordshire League Premier Division with a 3-1 win.

Weston went close twice in the early stages before Mark Parnham seized on a flick by Paul Wooding to chip the ball over Stuart Turpin in the Ewyas Harold goal to give the visitors a deserved lead.

Parnham went close to increasing the lead before Nathan Scott levelled for the leaders when he headed home following a Ryan Hirons corner.

After Weston goalkeeper Byron Hartley produced a fine save to deny Rob Chandler, Harold's pressure paid off when Hirons received a pass from Ben Wheeler and held off his marker to fire the home side in front.

Good work by Chandler and Mark Holder then set up Wheeler for the final goal as time ran out.

Wellington Rangers remain hot on the heels of the leaders after turning in an impressive display to win 3-2 at near rivals Sutton United.

Sutton, however, were the first to find the net on 20 minutes when Steve Miles fired home but Wellington were quickly on level terms when the ball finished in the back of the net after Steve Brotherwood challenged the Sutton goalkeeper to a cross.

Just before the break, a superb curling free-kick from Craig Sewell put the visitors in front for the first time and early in the second half Michael Craig raced on to an Eddie Wells pass to extend the lead.

With Gareth Jones in command at the heart of the Wellington defence, the visitors never looked in serious trouble although Stuart New pulled a goal back for Sutton just before the end.

Lads Club missed a good opportunity to keep up with the leading pack when they suffered a surprise 2-1 home defeat to struggling Ross United Services.

The city side enjoyed some early pressure but this ultimately came to nothing, although they did strike post and bar before the sides went in level at the interval.

After the break, Lads Club piled on the pressure and dominated the play for the first 20 minutes of the half with Ric Real finally opening their account.

But Services never gave up and came from behind to win with two goals from set-piece situations.

Westfields have now climbed above Lads Club into fourth spot after a goal blitz saw them rout city rivals Pegasus 8-2 at Old School Lane.

With Westfields' Midland Alliance team having a vacant Saturday, several first-team squad members were able to turn out and one of them, experienced marksman Paul Burton, showed his quality by scoring twice.

There were also two goals apiece for Wes Owen and James Watkins as Westfields combined some fine football with lethal finishing.

Youngster Lee Mussell and Matt Phillips rounded off the scoring for Westfields.

Fownhope moved above Hinton after a John Morris hat-trick led the villagers to a 5-2 success over their city rivals.

Hinton started well and put the home side under pressure before good work by Morris and Matt Goodall set up the chance for Steve Winmill to open the scoring.

Morris then scored his first, from the penalty spot, after Goodall had been brought down in the area to give Fownhope a comfortable lead at the break.

Hinton regrouped after the interval and Chris Williams cracked in an excellent long-range effort to reduce arrears, but Fownhope quickly restored the two-goal margin when Morris netted from close range.

A defensive mistake allowed Shaun Glover to cut the lead once again but Morris was then on hand to complete his treble from the penalty spot before Blackie Smith grabbed Fownhope's fifth shortly before the end.

There is still no joy at the bottom of the table for struggling Leominster who are now without a win after 13 games.

Their latest defeat, however, was a narrow affair, 2-1 at middle-of-the-table Woofferton.