HEREFORD men's seconds took a vital victory in their quest to avoid relegation by beating Newent A 4-1.

The bottom four rivals went head-to-head at Hereford Leisure Centre despite the poor conditions on Saturday.

Dan Makaruk opened the scoring before the hosts took control of the tie.

Makaruk secured his brace while further goals came courtesy of Matt Thomas and Ewan Bell on their way to victory.

Captain Dan Little said it was a big win in their quest to avoid the Verde Recreo Marches One drop.

"We've had a bit of a struggle to be honest and are in the bottom half of the table," said Little.

"We needed to win against Newent so I'm pleased to win that."

Hereford seconds have another 'must win' tie this weekend when they head to third from bottom Abergavenny.

Hereford sit one point above Abergavenny, with second from bottom Cirencester B also just one point behind the seconds.

"It's another must win game to stay up as two teams go down," added Little.

"It's going to be quite tough but if we can get the win this week then it will help massively."

Leominster seconds are safely in the top half of Marches One and enforced their position with a 4-1 victory at Bourton and Sherborne.

Elsewhere, Ross-on-Wye saw their De Cymru and Marches One promotion hopes dented following a 2-1 defeat at Cardiff and Met B.