Hamble blazed four goals in the opening 25 minutes to set up a vital 6-4 Hampshire/Surrey Regional Division 1 win over bottom-of-the-table Yateley at Satchel Lane.

It moved them out of the bottom two relegation places, one point ahead of neighbours Southampton, who have a grossly inferior goal difference, writes Harry Williams.

Hamble, benefitting from the rare luxury of a 13-man squad, started well with a large amount of possession in the Yateley half and were soon rewarded with a goal just three minutes in.

A shot from Nick Williams was saved by Charlie Saxby, the young Yateley keeper, only for Sam Davies to pounce and sweep in the rebound.

Hamble soon doubled their lead when the evergreen Mark Hobbs was put in and placed the ball under Saxby with an upright reverse.

Yateley hit back through Chris Hedges, but their response proved to be a mere blip in proceedings as Hamble were soon back on top, with a tight-angled strike by Williams restoring their two-goal lead.

There was no let up as Hamble added a fourth through Hobbs and went in 5-1 up at half-time with captain Ian Tollefsen on target.

Hedges clawed a second goal back for Yateley, whose improbable prospects of a comeback were ended five minutes later when Craig Freeman got Hamble’s sixth.

The game opened up and the rest of the second half was an even contest with many good scoring opportunities from both sides.

Yateley managed to capitalise on these chances to score two further goals through Paul Bockett-Pugh and Chris Hagg to reduce Hamble’s lead to 6-4 with ten minutes to go.

A third win of the season over mid-table Wanderers at Satchel Lane on Saturday will ease Hamble’s concerns still further.