St Albans Ladies made up for a disappointing draw with Ipswich seven days earlier as they won 4-2 at home to Bedford.

That resulted lifted them back above their visitors in the Conference East table and up into sixth with four games to go.

Following a nervy start from both teams St Albans were the first to settle and with the majority of possession and the creation of a couple of chances, they took the lead on 25 minutes.

That came after a period of patient build-up lead with the final pass from Natasha Humphris being deflected home by Amie Stephenson.

But they were back level by half-time after a lapse of concentration from St Albans on a long corner.

That brought the nerves back and the opening 15 minutes of the second half saw possession traded back and forth.

Some near misses from Bedford sparked the hosts to life and they were back in front just before the hour mark thanks to an emphatic finish from Caitlin Wales.

That was followed a minute later by number three. Wales was again involved but this time it was her shot that was deflected home by Samantha Archer-Overall past a stranded keeper.

Bedford made it a tense final five minutes with a second but the Saints gathered themselves and from a penalty corner with three minutes to go Stephenson slipped a pass inside that Adele Sammons slammed home.

Sixth is the minimum Saints are looking for as they look to stay in the division after this summer’s reshuffle of the leagues.

St Albans’ men suffered only their third defeat of the season when they went down 2-0 at home to East League Premier Division leaders Wapping.

It was a close and hard-fought encounter with limited chances for either team.

But Wapping got a stroke of luck just before half-time with a ball across field deflecting into the path of an attacker who slotted it in the open goal.

And they bagged their second on the break after they soaked up plenty of Tangerines’ pressure.

Skipper Matt Davey said: “It was a defensive battle which could have gone either way early on.

“Wapping were fortunate to sneak a goal from nowhere and that allowed them the luxury of sitting back and defending.

“But I’m happy with the performance. We stuck to our game plan and improved throughout the match.”