Haywards Heath skipper Alex Meredith played down reports of poor refereeing as his side were rumbled out of the Powergen Intermediate Cup.

Heath crashed 32-22 away to an uncompromising if unspectacular St Mary's OB outfit in Bristol.

Meredith was in almost constant discussions with the referee during the match, seeking clarification as his side got the worst of the penalty count. Lock Dave Atkin spent ten minutes in the sin bin following his own chat with the ref after claiming he had been kicked at a ruck.

Meredith though preferred to concentrate on the failings by his team as they conceded 32 unanswered points either side of half-time.

He said: "I cannot remember such a poor performance. The players must take responsibility for the result and not look elsewhere."

Owen Ashton, called in for the injured Andrew Cook, put Heath ahead from a 13th-minute penalty but they conceded three tries in ten minutes leading up to half-time.

That made the score 20-3 and worse followed as the kick-off to the second half went straight into touch deep in the Heath half.

When the subsequent lineout ball was not controlled, home scrum half Mark Harroway nipped in to score, followed by a second try of the day for flanker Jimmy Gallagher to open a 32-3 lead for the hosts.

Heath then got their act together. Wing Mark Pymm took a high ball and ran 40 yards to score and Henry Goodburn made the break from which Vince Rolandi touched down. Stuart Charnley converted both and added a try of his own.

Uckfield look unstoppable in the match to the Sussex One title but second place is up for grabs.

The leaders were 51-20 winners at Hellingly helped by four tries from Lee Evans and a Nick Ridley treble.

Antony Monk and Phil Rowland also got over, with Leigh Bialik converting three, while full back Ben Trevorrow stood out for Hellingly.

Two late penalties from Neil Redman gave Hastings and Bexhill a precious 14-8 win from their tricky trip to Horsham. Mark Hillman finished a superb move to give Horsham a 5-0 lead in a bruising encounter and Tom Wright later kicked a penalty.

Ben Campbell's try and a Paul Sandeman penalty kept H&B on terms.

Crowborough lost outside half Bruce Brooker after five minutes but scored three great tries in the first quarter of their excellent 34-0 defeat of Pulborough.

Matt Usher finished with two tries, Tim Jackson, David Groombridge and Damien Hayes also got over and Brooker's brother Keith added two conversions.

Rye beat UC Chichester 27-18.

Burgess Hill are looking good for the Sussex Two title after an impressive 28-15 home win over Norfolk Arms. Neil Upton, Justin Carrick and David Miles scored tries and home supporters were celebrating a 25-0 half-time lead as Jon Maple kicked a penalty and two conversions and David Webb dropped a goal.

Norfolk got back into it at 25-15 through tries by Tim Wood and Ian White, with Mark Friend-James kicking a conversion and penalty, before Maple added a late penalty.

Midhurst bounced back from several away hammerings to beat Newick 21-15, helped by tries from Guy Merrett and Kevin Raishbrook.

Lloyd Moore's hat-trick led St Francis to a 62-7 win over Barns Green. Dave Callan (2), Steve Hand, Charlie Phillips and Mark Bowden also got on the scoresheet.

Old Brightonians are still enjoying life in Sussex Three. Centre Anthony Wrinch completed a try hat-trick in the 62-27 win at Arun and got support from Matt Wilson (2), Toby Harding (2), Dougie Edmunds (2) and Steve Humphries. For Arun, Richard Russell (2), Ben Algar, Scott Elliott and Mark Quinney got over.

Ditchling were 55-8 winners at Shoreham and Robertsbridge enjoyed a 17-5 home win over Plumpton.