IN a demanding weekend of back-to-back matches Herefordshire lost to Leicestershire and Oxfordshire in the Central Division of the English Counties Netball League.

On Saturday they entertained Leicestershire and, after trailing by 12-6 at the end of the first quarter and 20-11 at half-time, they seemed to come to terms with the physical nature of the game.

They won the third quarter 13-12 and shared the final quarter 12-12 but could not prevent the visitors from recording a 45-35 victory.

They travelled to play Oxfordshire on the Sunday and, despite giving their all, eventually went down 51-39 to their powerful hosts.

The second team provided the only win on Saturday with a dramatic 52-51 victory over their Leicestershire counterparts. The under-18, under-16 and under-14 teams all gave their best but had to concede defeat against well-drilled and experienced opposition.

At Oxford the under-18 team produced their best performance of the season but succumbed 51-25 to their strong opponents, while the under-16 team tried hard but were well beaten.