Hereford got their post-Christmas West Clubs Women's League Severn Division 1 programme off to an excellent start with a 2-0 win over bottom-club Gloucester 3rd.

Hereford settled quickly and some neat play in midfield from Ruth Powell, Emily Panniers and Ali Preece ensured that the home side controlled the match to the extent that goalkeeper Simone Quinn did not touch the ball at all in the first period.

Hereford themselves forced a number of short corners but, although they went close on several occasions, the game remained goalless at the turnaround.

After the break, however, the city side's pressure paid off when Jess Lambert got on to a Panniers cross to fire home the opening goal.

After this, Hereford went from strength to strength and it was no surprise when Di Feely scored a second goal to underline the victory.

The previous week, Hereford had warmed up for the re-start of their league campaign with a single-goal win over Droitwich.

Lambert scored the decisive goal after good work by Gemma Stevens.

After a promising start to the season when, at one point, they sat in third place in the table, Hereford 2nd have recently suffered a slump in form and their 4-0 defeat at league leaders Newent was their sixth game without a win.

Hereford made a disastrous opening, letting in two goals in the first four minutes, after which they relied on some fine defending by Angela Thomas and Clare Annett and good goalkeeping from Mel Bryans to avoid conceding again before the interval.

A strong start by Newent in the second period forced Annett to put through her own goal in the first minute but Hereford hit back with Dwyn Jones and Lisa Ferneyhough missing good chances to reduce arrears.

With Hereford still pressing, Newent broke away in the last minute to score their fourth goal.

There were mixed fortunes for the other county Division 1 sides with Leominster crashing 3-0 at Gloucester 2nd but Colwall finding their form in style with a 7-1 success at Stroud.

In Division 2, Ross are placed on the fringe of the promotion places after a 3-1 win at East Glos 2nd.