Bottom club Bedford Athletic are still looking for their first win in National League Three Midlands after their 30-17 home defeat to Hereford at the weekend.

The hosts lost captain Garry Acton and outside centre Chris Bygraves in the first half hour and it was two minutes following the loss of Acton that Hereford scored their opening try courtesy of flanker Guy Thompson.

Hereford increased their lead before half time with a second try but neither try was converted meaning that the only other score of the half was a penalty to fly half Colin Osborne giving the visitors a 13-0 half time lead.

Ath's task became harder when visiting full-back Keiran Hallam scored ten minutes into the second half. Luck began to run the home side's way three minutes later when Phil Tipping intercepted and ran the length of the field to score, Paul Ryder converting.

Ryder added a penalty two minutes later to narrow the gap to eight points, but this was as close as Bedford Athletic got. Hereford secured the bonus point try on 59 minutes through fly half Osborne.

Their fifth try of the day arrived ten minutes before the end, again through Thompson but Ath did complete the scoring when a quick tap penalty allowed Matt Jones to score under the posts, Ryder converting.

A trip to Hinckley awaits Ath on Saturday, whilst their Colts are away to Burton in the fourth round of the National Colts Cup.

Runaway leaders Ampthill defeated Hinckley 52-13 in National League Three Midlands on Saturday.

They scored 26 points in each half and a total of eight tries. There were braces for captain Philip Lane, openside Jack Micans and lock Sam Richbell.

Centre Jonathan Raven and wing Adam Shaw also chipped in with a try, while fly-half Kieron Davies kicked six conversions.

Hinckley's scores came via a penalty goal and a conversion from scrum-half Joe Glover, a drop goal by fly-half Guy Swadling and a try from wing Paul Gutteridge, all in the first half.

Ampthill continued to show why they are top of the league and were clinical both with and without the ball having had the benefit of training throughout the Christmas period and playing Bromsgrove post-Christmas.

And it showed as match sharpness and fitness nullified Hinckley in many assets of the game. Credit must also go to Hinckley as they did, in parts put some good phases of rugby together, contributing to a decent contest.

This weekend, Ampthill visit Kenilworth.

Queens remain in the bottom half of the Midlands Three East South league table after they were beaten 27-7 at third-place Northampton Casuals at the weekend.

On Saturday they host mid-table Northampton Men's Own and will be looking to avenge their 31-7 reverse in the corresponding fixture, as well as their run of five straight defeats.

Elsewhere in the division, Bedford Swifts currently occupy a comfortable mid-table position after their 21-0 win at Daventry at the weekend.

Swifts' trio of tries were scored by Cameron Alsop, Alan Brownidge and Andy Jones, all of which were converted by Alun Evans and means they leapfrog Daventry in the table into sixth spot.

This Saturday, play host to second bottom outfit Deepings and will be looking to complete a league double having won 26-20 earlier in the season.