A LATE strike condemned Hereford to a 1-0 defeat at home to Newport in the Gerrard West of England and South Wales League Premier Division 3.

Although both sides started well, Hereford were indebted to goalkeeper Jamie Duncan, who made some good early saves to keep his side in the game.

Newport pushed forward in the second half but Hereford's defence - led by man-of-the-match Matt Thomas - held firm. However, the Welsh club continued to press, and hit the decisive blow moments before the final whistle.

Leominster struck three times in the last five minutes to run out 5-0 winners over struggling Wootton Bassett in North Division 2.

The home side could actually have won the game before the interval after creating a number of goal-scoring chances.

Leominster opened up the visitors' defence with ease but were forced to settle for first-half goals from James Dunn and Rob Goodman.

Leominster dominated the second period and once Josh Watkins had added the third, the bottom club were powerless to prevent further goals from Goodman and captain Dave Harvey.

Hereford 2nd crashed to a 9-1 defeat at table-topping Devises in North East Division 2, while Leominster 2nd suffered a narrow 2-1 reverse at second-place Yate 2nd.

A depleted Hereford 3rd went down 3-0 to a strong Bath 4th outfit in North East Division 5.

Defending from the start with only 10 men, Hereford held out until midway through the first half before they fell behind.

Youngsters Alistair Owen and Jonathon Mundy gave resilient performances for Hereford who failed to create a clear-cut scoring chance.

Bath made the game safe with the second goal shortly after half-time and they scored their third in the 60th minute.

North East Division 5 basement side Ross slipped to a 3-1 reverse at North Bristol 4th, who secured their first win.

Hereford 4th pulled off an impressive 2-1 victory at home to previously unbeaten Devizes 2nd in North East Division 8.

Devizes broke the deadlock near the end of the first half. But Hereford, to their credit, responded swiftly and a well-worked free hit by Jim Ellen was deflected in by Richard Brown.

Hereford's doggedness and determination finally told when captain Chris Moody rounded the visiting defence to slam home the winner.

Hereford Veterans lost 4-2 at home to a strong Lansdown Veterans' side.

Lansdown sped into a 4-0 interval lead before goals from Steve Alderton and skipper Tim Block brought Hereford reward for some positive play.

This Sunday, Hereford Veterans entertain Southampton-based Trojans Veterans in the first round of the English Hockey Association's Vintage Cup.

Three seasons ago, Hereford made it through to the quarter-finals before bowing out to Sevenoaks.