Winchester strengthened their grip on the Hampshire/Surrey Regional Division 1 leadership with a crushing 11-2 thrashing of Chichester at Kings’ School.

With second placed Woking humbled 5-0 by Fareham II, Winchester take a six-point lead at the top into Saturday’s visit to Havant.

Winchester weren’t at their best in the 2-1 win over Basingstoke the previous week, but they ran riot against the West Sussex visitors, scoring three times in the opening ten minutes.

A neat Kent Langridge deflection got the Winchester scoring under way.

Two further goals quickly followed, with a neat one-two between Mark Maunsell and Rob Ritchie to leave the Chichester goalkeeper stranded and a deflection at the back post by Stuart Swift made it 3-0 within 10 minutes.

The goal scoring continued with ease throughout the game as Winchester put a further eight past Chichester, whose defence all but collapsed.

The goals came with a brace from veteran Stuart Swift and Mark Maunsell, top-scorer Kent Langridge grabbed a hat-trick to take his season’s tally to 17, two more than team-mate Maunsell. Craig Jeffery, Ed Player, Scott Rawlings and, eventually, Dan Hyden completed the scoring.

Winning skipper Kevin Boniface commented: “It was a strong all round performance. It was great to see players stepping up and I really couldn’t have asked more.

“We have a fantastic squad this season and have added depth in areas where we were previously weak.

“Full credit to Ed Player with a fantastic goal and this will only build pressure on our weaker players, some of whom continues to grapple with fitness issues.”