BARTESTREE Women took the derby match spoils with a 2-1 win over Hereford Women, sending the visitors to their first league defeat.

The hosts opened the scoring early in the first half when Sophie Preece saw her effort find its way into the net.

Zoe Boucher then connected with a looped cross to put Bartestree 2-0 ahead after 18 minutes.

However, Hereford responded two minutes later with Roxana Dinescu firing home and despite looking for a leveller it was Bartestree who held on for victory.

"We played them pre-season and lost 3-0 but half the girls were new to the club," said Bartestree manager Robert Evans.

"I knew that we would get better going through the season. It was a pretty intense match for both teams so it was good to come off the better side of it and I thought we deserved the win.

"All three goals were scored in the first 20 minutes so after they scored it was quite stressful but we played to our strengths to win."

Evans joined the club in the summer along with several players and the manager says that the victory has given his side a confidence boost going into this Sunday's game at Lads Club (2pm).

"We have been working on building relationships and working on tactics," Evans added.

"That is working well and we're hoping for a mid-table finish. That win gives us a massive confidence boost ahead of another derby match on Sunday."

Meanwhile Lads Club have won four of their opening five games and beat Areley King Ladies 1-0 on Sunday with Megan Cooke netting the game's only goal.