Hereford'S first weekend in the Flint & Cook Marches League is one the club will not look back on with great pleasure.

Bartestree & Lugwardine skittled out the city side for 93 at the Racecourse and knocked off the runs for the loss of five wickets in Division 2.

And in Division 4, the Hereford's second string fared even worse when they were routed for just 27 by Wormelow 2nd, for whom Chris Haston picked up 6-15. Wormelow cruised home for the loss of two wickets.

Builth Wells' Winston Williams (95 no) and Jeff Carter (37 no) rescued their side from the depths of 60-7 with a century stand against Marden who were led to victory by some good batting from Pete Richards (80 no) and Dave Bird (49 no).

Monmouth 2nd made a winning start in Division 2 with Ian Morgan's 43 the backbone of their total of 170-8 against Ross who could only manage 139 in reply. Gordon Grey took 5-36 for the Welsh side.

Promoted Goodrich 2nd had an exciting start to life in Division 3 with a narrow two-run win over newcomers Colwall 3rd, while Presteigne and Bosbury also had a tense finish on their Marches debut in Division 5A

With three wickets in hand, Presteigne required nine to win from the last over bowled by Alan Lancett but could only muster seven to lose by a single run.

On a day when runs were often at a premium, Bishop's School's Sam Bendall had no problem locating the middle of the bat, hammering 126 to help his side to a 105-run win over Bishops Frome.