St Albans’ promotion hopes have hit a bit of a speed bump after they followed up their loss to league leaders with a 34-14 defeat at third-placed Barnet Elizabethans.

The result against a highly-motivated home side sees the clubs swap places in the Herts Middlesex Division One table.

It had started so well for Saints too who looked assured and confident as they took a third-minute lead, Harry Atherton timing his run to perfection to split the home defence.

George Elliott converted that but from there Barnet took control as the visitors struggled to find any fluency.

A penalty for offside put them on the board and by half-time they had they had a healthy 17-7 advantage.

St Albans problems had stemmed from a difficulty with the ball not going to hand and a series of errors that disrupted the flow of their game.

They did have success in the tight but couldn't turn the territory into points, something Barnet had little trouble with.

Two further tries and a penalty took the game out of Saints' reach and even another Atherton score couldn't make any inroads to the hosts' superiority.

They have a Junior Vase game on Saturday before facing Wasps in the league on December 7.