CONFERENCE EAST: Loughtonians 4, Dereham Ladies 0: Dereham's struggles continued with another loss despite an improved performance.

The visitors' first half game plan seemed to work, with quick and accurate passing and good ball retention, although they rarely threatened to break down the Loughts defence.

The hosts went into the break with a 1-0 lead, but after the break Dereham lost concentration and allowed Loughts to score three more times.

• HARLESTON MAGPIES MEN 5, OXTED 1

Harleston Magpies moved up to second in the Men's Conference East with a comprehensive victory over Oxted.

Oxted made the brighter start, putting Magpies onto the back foot. With a swift break, however, it was Magpies who took the lead as Simon Hipwell found Toby Tibernham and he outpaced the defence before rounding the keeper to score. The visitors continued to dominate the game and got their reward with a disputed goal levelling the scores.

Harleston started to come more into the game and were rewarded when James Fanger scored from a short corner, making it 2-1 to the home side at half time.

In the second half, quick thinking between Baynes and Hipwell allowed Ben Wright to score. The game had swung Magpies' way but then David Ling received a yellow card, reducing his team to ten men for five minutes.

Oxted pushed but this seemed to make Harleston play even better with Richard Gill in inspired form, showing real class with and without the ball. Ling was reinstalled and Hipwell stole the ball before feeding Duncan Graves to score.

The final goal saw Tibernham turn provider for Hipwell who scored a well deserved goal after much hard work and selfless play.

• HARLESTON MAGPIES LADIES 0, HORSHAM 1

Magpies produced their best performance of the season so far but still came away on the losing side on Sunday.

The hosts absorbed plenty of first half pressure and were stretched on several occasions, but solid defending prevented Horsham from capitalising early on.

Magpies started to show some promise, but Horsham then scored what proved to be the only goal of the game in the 19th minute, following the controversial award of a short corner.

After the break, Magpies dominated proceedings, with Emily Wilford and Lucy Fields troubling the Horsham defence. Fields was thwarted in a one on one with the keeper and in the dying minutes, Bryony Lund's short corner deflection glanced the post, as Magpies were unable to pull level.

• In the National Knockout Cup on Sunday, Norwich City were beaten 7-6 by City of Peterborough.

Jeremy Elliott scored a hat-trick for Norwich, while Chris Perry, Pete Morgan and Dave Skinner also netted.