Haywards Heath frittered away a 13 point lead as they went down 27-20 at promoted Hertford in their London One opener on Saturday.

Heath led 13-0 early on, but Hertford came back hard, taking full advantage when Andy Cook was sent to the sin bin for ten minutes early in the second half.

Skipper Alex Meredith said: "We built on a good start but then lost concentration at key moments."

Stuart Charnley slotted two early penalties to put Heath in charge and then No8 Glen Rankin drove over from a line-out for a try which Charnley improved.

But the hosts, protecting an unbeaten home record stretching back almost two years, hit back through tries from their outstanding flanker Dave Hesketh and Danny Harris and pulled away when Cook was penalised following an off the ball incident.

Hesketh added another try in the second half and Mike Shaw's score appeared to have put the game beyond doubt. Cook returned to combine with Jon Graham to put Riaan Kruger in for Heath's third try, but despite a barrage of late pressure they were unable to find a way through again.

Worthing's excellent start to the new season continued at Tunbridge Wells where they won 15-11 in their London Two South opener.

Two penalties and a drop goal in the first 15 minutes helped them establish a 9-0 lead and despite losing prop Rainne Bruce with a foot injury the visitors had a 12-3 advantage at the break following another Coulson penalty.

Worthing had two tries disallowed in the opening 15 minutes of the second half, but going into the last 20 minutes they led 15-6 after a fourth Coulson penalty.

Wells bombarded the visitors' line in the closing stages, reducing the deficit to four points with a try. But Worthing defended superbly to protect their advantage in a tense finale.

Chichester and Bognor made winning starts in London Four SE. Chi ran in six tries as they trounced Crawley 46-14 in a performance which skipper Ben Polhill described as "very encouraging."

Assistant coach Dave Kyffin (2), Richard Johnson, Polhill, Nicholas Stanton and Ryan Smith were their scorers with 18-year-old fly-half Jack Smallman celebrating his debut with two penalties and three conversions.

Bognor defeated Guy's Hospital 18-8 despite having replacement prop Steve Worthington sent off ten minutes after he'd come on for an alleged head butt.

Skipper Karl Flynn only lasted until half-time because of illness but the hosts rallied with tries from Nigel Mitchell and winger Grant Twine, on his league debut, and two conversions and a penalty by Andrew Shipp.

Hove surrendered a 22-7 lead as they were held to a 25-25 draw at Dunstonians.

John Mahon, Kevin Long and Alex Springer all crossed for the visitors while Martin Lovell added two penalties and two conversions, but the home side hit back in the second half and missed a kickable penalty in the last minute which would have won them the game.

Heathfield went down 20-5 at home to Beccehamian.