Hamble stayed on course to win the Hampshire league title with a comprehensive 8-1 win over Blandford.

But Southampton's first team also finally got back to their early-season form as they overwhelmed Ryde 8-2.

And Ryde's junior coach, Jon Milton, was impressed with the teamwork and level of commitment for a mid-table clash late in the season.

With the 2nd XI league championship done and dusted, there could be some excuse for sitting back and taking it easy.

But Rob Sparrow had different ideas against Aldershot and Farnham in his last game for Southampton before taking a 'gap' year to see the world.

He opened the scoring by carving his way through the defence before a reverse stick flick saw the ball in the net.

Eric Holt added the second from five yards before Aldershot and Farnham got back to 2-1. Top goalscorer Chris Stokes got number three and Southampton looked to be cruising.

But Aldershot refused to be writtten off and continued to cause concern for the Southampton defence, eventually grabbing a late goal in a 3-2 defeat.

On Thursday Sparrow is off to Singapore and the club wish him well on his trip.

Southampton III played most of their game with Haslemere according to the formbook with David Holt (3), Steve Quinn and Mark Frieze putting them 5-1 up.

But relaxed tackling and lack of focus in the second half brought the game back to 5-4, a lead Southampton managed to hold.

The big match in the division, between Winchester IV and V resulted in a 2-1 win for the fifths. That moves Southampton into second spot behind Havant, who remain unbeaten.

Southampton IV opponents, Otters, were depleted by a County embargo on players playing on Saturdays prior to county championship matches as well as losing two senior players due to holiday commitments.

The result of 14-0 flattered the fourths in a game which would have been better delayed pending players' availability.

The Fourths move into second spot but Basingstoke Brewers have games in hand and can overtake as the season comes to a close.

The fifths and veterans had no games but the Masters had a less-than-enjoyable trip to the far end of East Sussex to play an East Grinstead side crammed with former internationals and county players.

With a half-time score of 7-0 it looked daunting for the Southampton players but a second-half revival saw them stem the tide of goals for a final score of 10-0.

Southampton's sixth team went down to a solitary goal to Andover IV.

* There was no hockey on Sunday, owing to snow.