Hampshire hopes of reaching Twickenham and moving back to the full County Championship have been left hanging in the balance after a disappointing second half allowed Somerset a 26-21 victory in the opening Pool 4 encounter.

With just three teams contesting the group, it was imperative that Hampshire won both their games. Now they are relying upon newcomers Essex to upset the West Countrymen next week to ensure their match at Thurrock in a fortnight is not just a dead rubber.

It could have been so different after Hampshire dominated the first half but only brought in a 13-0 interval advantage through a Dave Archer try and two Steve Claffey penalties. They were guilty of squandering too many good opportunities that would have given Somerset too much to do after the break, rather than offering them the chance which they took through four tries - two coming by way of pushovers.

Somerset's running was leaving Hampshire ragged, and although Claffey's third penalty put the home side ahead briefly, an interception of a stray pass followed by a second within three minutes, saw the lead change hands.

Keith Molyneux grabbed a try back and almost scored another with time running out, but Hampshire were left to rue the chances they missed in the first half and not building up a sufficient lead with the slight wind and pitch slope in their favour.

Coach Simon Morgan was disappointed that the result meant that Hampshire, baring a surprise next week, would be forced to suffer another season in the Shield.

"I thought last year, in the match against Somerset, we won but they deserved it," he said.

"But this season, it was much the other way round and we deserved to win but didn't. Somerset played to their strengths and, although we had the power up front, they still scored two pushover tries.

"I thought we played well but are still missing a few players that would have made a difference to our game," Morgan continued. "It is likely to condemn us to another season in the Shield but, hopefully, if we can keep the players together, we have the squad to push next season."

In Pool 3, Dorset & Wiltshire are also facing an uphill struggle to qualify for the next stage, having gone down in their opening clash to Kent 29-10.