Leominster'S hopes of securing a promotion spot in North Division 1 of the Gerrard West of England and South Wales League appear to be fading after the North Herefordshire club went down 6-5 at Cwmbran.

Things had looked promising for Leominster who had led for much of the match before defensive slackness set in, allowing the home side to hit back to level and eventually grab all the points with the last hit of the match.

The visitors made a good start with Josh Watkins opening the scoring and Rob Goodman then firing home the second after some fine approach play by Will Eastman.

Although Cwmbran pulled a goal back, Watkins struck again to give the visitors a 3-1 half-time lead.

Complacency set in after the interval, however, and despite further goals from Watkins and Goodman, who shared the man-of-the-match award with midfielder James Morris, Cwmbran's second-half rally was strong enough to earn them all the points.

Hereford's prospects of promotion from Premier 3 also suffered a setback when they went down to a 4-1 away defeat to second-placed Cardiff Univer-sity.

Hereford made a fine start, however, and took the lead when a short corner by Leigham Hayde provided the chance for Ewan Bell to score.

The students levelled before the interval and came out strongly in the second period to add two more goals.

Hereford pushed up as they tried to get back into the game and were caught on the break by the home side who added a fourth to emphasise their superiority on the day.

Hereford 2nd are third in Herefordshire & Gloucestershire 1 after a 4-1 success against Gloucester City 3rd but it was a day to forget for the Hereford club's two other sides.

Hereford 3rd went down 4-1 to Lansdown 3rd and, in Herefordshire & Gloucestershire 2, Hereford 4th's display of sportsmanship against Winch-combe failed to pay off when the visitors left with a 2-0 win.

With Winchcombe arriving 25 minutes late, Hereford would have been within their rights to claim a 5-0 walkover but instead agreed to play.

Winchcombe opened the scoring with a deflected second-half penalty corner and then extended their lead in controversial fashion.

A Winchcombe forward swung his stick at a high-bouncing ball in the Hereford area and missed. Then, as the home side stopped, expecting a whistle for dangerous play, he then slammed the ball into the net.

The umpire allowed the goal, despite protests from the Hereford team.

Ross retain an outside chance of going up after a narrow 2-1 win at Cheltenham 5th.

The third-placed South Herefordshire side produced an excellent defensive display but, with the midfield and attack looking unusually jaded, it was not until 10 minutes before the interval that Adrian Williams broke the stalemate.

Ross continued to push forward and, finally, Steve Evans made an attack down the left and lofted the ball over the advancing goalkeeper.

Cheltenham grabbed a consolation goal from a penalty corner in the dying minutes.