In a dramatic Hants and South Coast Minor League Final, Winchester City Penguins successfully defended their title - by just two points from Fareham Nomads.

Behind these two and Woking, Eastleigh Fleming Park put in a fine late surge to take clear fourth ahead of four more close-packed finishers.

After 30 events, Penguins - whose relay swimming, especially in the under-13 and 15 age-groups, proved a key strength - were 16 points clear of second-placed Woking.

The gap had narrowed to 10 points, with Nomads the challengers, going into the last three events - and Fareham star Hannah Clegg halved that by placing second in the 100m freestyle.

The men's 100 free saw the two clubs' swimmers separated only by the judge (in Nomads' favour); but in the final cannon relay, Penguins' solid fourth place was enough to preserve their lead.

Nomads, second in the cannon, would still have finished a point adrift if they'd won that last race.

With national-qualified swimmers required to prove their versatility and swim 'off-stroke' in this competition, Penguins' individual wins came from Tom Watts (50m breast), Julia Beckett (100m medley), Alex Cartwright (50m backstroke), Abi Sweeney (50m freestyle), and Lloyd Terry (100m back). Joe Jenkins, Sam Knight and Becky Ford all added valuable second place swims; but the relays again proved Penguins' strongest suit.

The same could be said for Nomads: they won six of the 15 relays; and overall, consistency proved the key to their challenge with 19 swimmers placing second or third.

They topped that with four individual wins: under-15s Nick Barber (100m fly) and Sarah Warrener (100m back, 1:13.33pb), under-11 Holly Palmer (50m back, 39.23pb) and former Nomads star and welcome returnee Lee MacDonald.

After an absence of several years, including a stint in Scotland and selection for the Scottish youth squad, MacDonald has rejoined Nomads and here swam his first competitive 1200m backstroke since leaving the club before - taking men's open gold in 1:01.83.

Eastleigh, well down the field after a quiet first half, came storming through with eight wins in the second half.

Josh Willcocks provided a belated first win in event 21 - clocking a 31.00pb in the under-13 50m freestyle. Robert Crook won the under-11 50m free, then came home first in the backstroke but was disqualified for his turn.

Three straight wins in the 50m fly followed - Leanne Asher (under-13) in a 33.72pb, followed by under-11s Nicola Gentles and Sebastian Willcocks. Rikki Jackson switched to the open freestyle to win in 1:02.19pb; then Eastleigh's first four winners joined four team-mates to take the 8x1 squadron relay by a distance in 1:56.19.

RESULT: Winchester Penguins 272, Fareham Nomads 270, Woking 253, Eastleigh 210, Havant & Waterlooville 199, Haslemere 188, Alton 183, Rushmoor Royals 181.