Defending Hampshire Bowl champions Eastleigh became semi-final casualties after being outplayed by Southampton University Hospitals.

The title holders got off to a good start at Bishopstoke Road but the Medics continued to improve throughout the game and proved too strong for the home side.

Things were looking good for Eastleigh when, after five minutes, their forwards drove over the line, allowing hooker Stu Mason to get the first score of the game. Phil Baldwin converted to give them a 7-0 lead.

Eastleigh then had a number of opportunities to increase their lead but failed to convert them, allowing the young Medics to get into their stride – it was clear their game plan was to move the ball wide as quickly as possible to their backs.

On 30 minutes a visitors’ lineout was taken off the top and the ball moved wide, leading to an overlap and touchdown. They soon went further ahead with a successful penalty.

Fortunes changed just before half-time when Eastleigh winger Ian Scott collected a rebound penalty attempt off the posts. But the ball was stolen and a Medics centre sprinted the length of the pitch before offloading to his wing to score under the posts for a simple conversion.

The Medics’ third try came on 50 minutes when they went over in the corner and moved to 20-7 ahead.

With 15 minutes remaining the Eastleigh forwards drove over the line with Stu Mason scoring his second try. Phil Baldwin nailed the two extra points to get his team to within a converted try of their opponents.

The Medics were then reduced to 14 after a player was yellow carded but their strong defence remained solid and they moved into the final.

Eastleigh head coach Andy Boyes said: “We made a number of changes for this game with next week’s league fixture in mind. However the players who came in were more than capable of securing the win.

“We had a game plan that played to our strengths but we didn’t execute it for the majority of the game.

“I must give credit to Southampton Medics who played to their strengths and deserved the win. They will be tough test in the final and we wish them well.”

Eastleigh man of the match was hooker Stu Mason.