AFTER a solitary win during three months on the road, Gosport & Fareham's homecoming did not disappoint as they beat county rivals Winchester 27-6.

While their new clubhouse is still likely to be at least six weeks from completion, the return to familiar sea air in front of their own supporters gave the men in blue and gold a huge boost in their battle against the strange surrounds of a relegation tussle.

With a number of players back, any chance of Winchester taking advantage of the host's dour run of results was nullified by the domination of the Gosport forwards, who denied the visitors any kind of decent ball.

Although Dan Kinsley gave Winchester an early penalty lead having missed a second-minute opportunity, Gosport quickly gained an advantage they did not relinquish when, from a close range scrum, Jamie Daly's drive found Chris Thompson in support and he lurched over.

Richard Lloyd converted and added a penalty after Kinsley had kicked one for the visitors before the interval but Gosport were fully in control, especially up front.

When Winchester did get the ball, they were adventurous. Only a last-ditch tackle on Rob West saved the day midway through the second half but those spurts were few and far between as the forwards were continually starved of ball, leaving the backs cold.

The final quarter saw Gosport stretch away.

Hooker Brett Gamblin was driven over for their second try and, when Winchester did try to use their backs, Jonathan Wood was in the way, intercepting to clinch the morale-boosting two points.

Replacement Richard Daly's try additional icing on the Gosport cake and his brother, captain Jamie, was delighted.

"I got the lads around after the game and said to them 'this is how it feels to win'. It is a great weight off our shoulders," he said.

"We did play well but were obviously a bit low on confidence, but hopefully we can now carry on from now."

Winchester's assistant coach Barry Bridgman was disappointed with his side's performance, pointing to the lack of possession gained by the forwards as the main contributing factor.

"We were off the pace in the forwards," he commented. "Gosport bullied us off the ball and we couldn't get going. They were much more up for it there and every time we went into contact, we were not sure if we were going to come out of it with the ball again. It was very disappointing."

A topsy-turvy match in the blustery conditions eventually went the way of Portsmouth but they had to come from 20-7 down to overturn bottom-placed Cobham 46-25.

They scored eight tries, including braces for lock Paul Gandy and centre Oge Ofeasia but had lapses in concentration on a couple of occasions which had coach Ian Chandler in mixed emotions over the performance.

"It was a good performance all in all," he said, "we played well but we sat back, which is the typical Pompey thing when we thought we had the game won."

Gosport & Fareham's win has allowed them over overtake Andover, who lost 40-3 to Richmond at the Goodship Ground but they have also had two points deducted for fielding an unregistered player earlier in the season.

Despite all the injuries, Havant bounced back to form with an awesome 61-16 victory over one-time league challengers Thanet Wanderers, totalling eight tries in the Kent mauling.

The Hooks Lane side stepped up their own credentials with a final quarter 28-point tally to keep the pressure firmly upon the top three sides in London One. Winger Keith Molyneux helped himself to two tries while six others crossed.

Steve Claffey booted 21 points on his return to the side.