Beds duo batter Kenilworth hopes; RUGBY UNION: Coventry and Warwickshire teams in weekend action.

KENILWORTH slipped further down the National Three ladder when they suffered their second successive mauling against Bedfordshire opposition.

And their 42-19 defeat at Ampthill was something of an instant replay of the 45-22 reverse against Luton as the territorial edge secured by their pack power was squandered by unforced errors in attack and defence.

They were 22-7 adrift at the interval, Gareth Renowden's canny chip to the corner creating the pressure for an opportunist Mike Rust try converted by Russell Clarke.

Renowden and Rust carried on some good work by the pack - notably Paul Thompson - to set up Adrian Hales early in the second period and Kenilworth closed to within six points when Hales pounced again and Clarke slotted home the conversion.

But Kenilworth were once again guilty of some sloppy defensive play in the final quarter, and Luke Watts's spell in the sin-bin didn't help as Ampthill displayed the clinical finishing that has put them in pole position for promotion.

Hinckley are just a point off the pace after bouncing back from their defeat against Ampthill and shrugging off a rash of injuries to outgun Bedford Athletic 47-15.

Sam Glover franked first-half tries by Sam Swift and Wayne Johnson to ease the visitors into a 14-10 lead.

And although they never managed to click into prime form they tightened their grip with tries from Guy Swadling, Dave Howgate, Glover, Paul Gutteridge and Simon Stratford - Glover chipping in with eight more points.

Leamington went down 38-15 against a Bournville side displaying the power that has made them something of a surprise packet this season.

The Spa men tackled like the proverbial tigers - Pete Blunt, Simon Harry and Lewis Kelsey particularly impressive - but despite the boost of an early penalty from Patch Northover they trailed 19-3 at the interval.

Blunt and Marcus Pask made the running for Matt Cooper to reduce that deficit to 19-8, but Bournville then reeled off three tries to secure the points before Cooper collected Northover's pass and bulldozed his way past a succession of tackles to cross between the posts and present his scrum-half with a simple conversion.

The Midlands Two West game between Bedworth and Berkswell & Balsall was abandoned in the 32nd minute, with the home side leading by two penalties to one, when the referee suffered an ankle injury.

Table-topping Old Laurentians logged their most emphatic win against derby rivals Newbold-on-Avon for several seasons.

The 33-8 scoreline was cruel on the visitors, who were just 9-8 adrift after 33 minutes and never gave up the ghost, but the OLs defence were in superb form throughout.

After potting three penalties to offset a Dave Barclay try and a Richard Allen penalty, Ben Wiles converted Denzil Evans's try to earn OLs their 16-8 interval advantage.

And having soaked up some sustained pressure at the start of the second period, OLs took charge with skipper Carl Adams opening the door for Simon Bayliss before centre Iain Wallis produced two inspired runs to tee up Chris le Poidevin and Bayliss, Wiles converting the latter in fine style. Rugby St Andrews overcame Long Buckby 23-11 despite an undisciplined performance that saw them concede a string of first-half penalties.

Those misdemeanours eroded a promising start and, having nudged in front with a Ryan Taylor penalty, they found themselves 8-3 down at the mid-way point.

Taylor converted a penalty try to give them the lead, however, and a brace of touchdowns from Kristen Enefer confirmed their superiority before Taylor book-ended his contribution with a late penalty. Dunlop reeled off 15 tries in a 99-12 rout of Kings Norton that underlined the gulf between top and bottom in Midlands Three West (Sout h).

A third-minute strike by No.8 Mark Challis set the standard and his second was sandwiched by efforts from Dave Weston, Tim Pitman, Steve Foster, John Phillips, Richard Craner and Danny James in the first half.

Stuart Edwards (2), Andrew Solomon, Tom Byrne, Steve Adcock (2) and Craner again followed suit in the second period - James weighing in with a dozen conversions to pass the 100-point mark for the season.

Southam suffered their second successive defeat when they were trimmed 19-10 by Old Leamingtonians.

The home side started strongly, winger Chris Orfeur and centre Pete Burnell logging well-worked tries, but were pegged back to 10-7 on the stroke of half-time when they were temporarily reduced to 14 men.

OLs again cashed in on that advantage to add another converted try at the start of the second period and although the game remained cut-and-thrust, a third try five minutes from time confirmed their first win of the season.

Having taken the lead in exhilarating style when 2nd row Tom McKnight's dash from the halfway line set up Stuart Smith for the opening try, Keresley lost their way in the closing stages to suffer a 27-14 defeat at Stoke Old Boys.

Jamie Brewerton, whose brace of penalties trimmed the visitors' lead to 7-6 at the break, then weighed in with a try and a conversion, Mick May and Ray Hopkins also crossing while Rob Morris added two conversions. Brad Atkins notched Keresley's second try, Neil Hannah again supplying the extra points.

Trinity Guild maintained their encouraging Midland Five start with a 43-12 verdict against Coventry Saracens.

They took an early grip with a Dominic Murphy try converted by Richard Bennett, the latter firing home a penalty before upgrading scores by Mark and Luke Billyeald to make it 24-0 at the interval.

Saracens showed admirable determination in the second period but Guild protected their lead with tries from Murphy, Paul Ellis and Mark Billyeald, Bennett weighing in with two more conversions A fifth-minute try from skipper Adam Costelloe put Coventrians on course for their 34-8 success at Warwickian.

Lenny Pitts and Tom Gough also crossed as the visitors built up a 24-3 advantage at half-time and they wrapped it up with a try from debutant centre Lawrence Goddard - Michael Douglas adding two penalties to his 100-per-cent conversion rate.

o WARWICKSHIRE Under-18s suffered a second setback when they were outgunned 24-5 by an impressive North Midlands squad at Broadstreet. Trailing 12-0 at the interval, the County shuffled their line-up in the second period but were 17-0 adrift before Barkers Butts winger Alex Collins grabbed their consolation try. Warwickshire return to Broadstreet for Midlands Super Sunday on November 1.

CAPTION(S):

CENTURY MAKER... Danny James has piled up over 100 points for Dunlop this season