East Men s League Premier A Harpenden 1 Dereham 4 St Albans 6 Wapping 1 LANCE Boyd-Clarke scored for the second successive game for Harpenden but they were beaten 4-1 by Dereham in the East Men s League Premier A on Saturday. Harpenden s battling quality

East Men's League Premier A

Harpenden 1 Dereham 4

St Albans 6 Wapping 1

LANCE Boyd-Clarke scored for the second successive game for Harpenden but they were beaten 4-1 by Dereham in the East Men's League Premier A on Saturday.

Harpenden's battling quality has shown in recent weeks despite their relegation from the top division and they fought hard against Dereham.

St Albans beat Wapping 6-1 at Clarence Park to strengthen their claims for the runners up spot. The Saints are four points ahead of third place Cambridge but cannot catch champions Harleston Magpies.

Harpenden II cruised to a comfortable victory against Division Three South West strugglers Southgate on Saturday in the East Men's League.

The Whites took the lead when a fine through ball from David Waters released Ceri Sharma in the D and the young wide man calmly lifted the ball over the advancing keeper. The lead did not last long, however, with Adelaide equalising minutes later.

Jolted into action, Harps raised their game and, in a blistering 10-minute spell before the break, secured the points. Short-corner specialist Sam Martyn registered his fourth goal in consecutive games. Goal-machine Nigel Timms scrambled the third after a goal-line melee and Niall Blackwell came off the bench to cleverly deflect Fraser Tant's goal-bound effort beyond the 'keeper's dive with his very first touch.

Blackwell was on hand again just before the break to make it five.

Skipper Pete Kneale wanted to see more urgency, more composure and more ruthlessness in the second half and Timms struck his second after a great run by veteran Paul Nash. The merest of clever deflections from a Kneale effort then saw Blackwell claim a clinical hat trick to make the final score 7-1.

l Harpenden Ladies beat Herford 3-2 on Saturday in the East League Division Two South West and on Sunday were awarded a walk over 3-0 win against Maidstone. Harpenden lead the table on goal difference from Broxbourne with 37 points.