Eastleigh’s patched-up squad did what was asked of them by keeping the club on top of Hampshire 1.

But the leaders did not have it all their own way as they took on Ventnor on the Isle of Wight.

A Lloyd Bennett penalty settled Eastleigh and they looked good at 13-0 up after 40 minutes following tries from David Craddock and Paul Fudio.

But Ventnor had the better of the second half and were rewarded with a try for their efforts.

Eastleigh, forced into mistakes in the second period, had a try disallowed towards the end.

Man of the match for Eastleigh was David Craddock who covered a great deal of ground.

Romsey also made the trip across The Solent and came in for some praise – despite losing out 47-7 to Isle of Wight.

Romsey have been hit by a major injury and unavailability crisis and cobbled together just 16 registered players for the trip.

Every one gave 100 per cent but that was not enough to stop an IoW victory which lifted them off the bottom of the table.

The home side were 47-0 ahead before Nick Creal crossed the line and converted his own try.

Coach Gary Banks said: “Well done to the Islanders, they took their chances throughout with a little assistance on our part.

“I’m proud of the guys that stepped up to make the trip but more than a little disappointed that we couldn’t even field an entire 18-man squad.”

New Milton & District moved past Romsey in the table after another high-scoring victory.

The New Forest side bettered last weekend’s 53-7 home win over Southampton by returning from Fareham & District with a comfortable 59-4 success.

Millbrook missed their chance to make ground on Andover, losing out 22-9 at the second-placed side.