Fareham Heathens took their recent run of form to four wins out of five in Hampshire Division 1, but the way this victory was achieved was nowhere near their best, as their rivals Nomads dragged them down to their level.

It was not the nicest of days for running, expansive rugby - and there was very little of that - but the chances that were created, especially by Heathens in the opening half hour, came to nothing as both participants looked like they were allergic to each other's 22.

Each time they came close, possession was turned over or either side were penalised - it was almost comical in its regularity.

Only on the half hour, when Trevor Illingworth broke free and galloped up the left wing, did Heathens finally enter the crucial quarter of the pitch, but his chuck-away pass was the closest either came to a try.

Heathens certainly had the edge in the scrum, and it was when Nomads lost one against the head that they had a chance to break the deadlock, but Andy Hopper's penalty attempt was woefully weak.

He made amends bang on half-time with an easier one, but was replaced at the interval as Heathens looked to bolster their scrum further to give them an extra edge.

It worked in the early part of the second period, when fly-half and former captain Paul Charlson burrowed underneath a pile of bodies to emerge with the ball for their first try.

And John Caulfield was on hand to take Mark Dunning's pass as Nomads lost another scrum against the head to claim the second.

This was more like the Heathens that had taken considerable strides up the division and beat Guernsey a fortnight ago, but it lasted too short a time with Nomads' try coming from a failed chase to teenager Mitchell Stone's chase to the line.

Nomads skipper Adam Stanley restarted quickly with a long range 22 drop out, which caught the hosts napping, and from a tap penalty close out, the impressive University student Tim Ralston at scrum-half easily went over.

From there on, it was all Nomads, who had agreed for the match to be switched from the waterlogged Cams Alders to their own University of Portsmouth 'home' ground, but their lack of penetration in breaking down the Fareham men cost them in the end.

So, Heathens roll on and up to fifth in the table, level on points with previous leaders New Milton & District and Channel Islanders Guernsey - but not many would have given them a hope of being there earlier in the season as they were thought to be one of the likely strugglers.

Skipper Mark Steward, whose side are just four points off the lead, was happy to take the points away.

He said: "As I said when we won our first game of the season against Hamble, we'll take the two points and be satisfied.

"We did deserve to win but, at times, we tried too hard to muscle them out.

"Games between Nomads and us tend to be good ones, but there were plenty of loose feet going in, which is a bit typical of a local derby."