ANY hopes Romsey Town had of a top-three finish in their first season in Wessex 2 all but vanished on Monday, when third-placed Locks Heath made the best use of the awkward bounce on their home pitch to extend their lead over Town seven points.

With four games to play that would appear to be a bridge too far, and Petersfield in fifth place have games in hand and could pip Romsey to fourth. But even if they're overtaken it will still be a remarkable success story for Romsey, who were in effect promoted two divisions in 2004 and have made light of the task of adapting to higher-grade football.

Simon Woodley and Andy Kemp returned to the side that had beaten East Cowes on Saturday, but Town missed the work-rate and physical presence of Dean Constable, who was unavailable. John Romero joined Simon De'ath up front, while the versatile Aaron Wickes moved to right midfield in the absence of Nick Thomas.

Town hit the post twice in the first ten minutes, once through De'ath and once when a Woodley free-kick was flicked on. But midway through the first half they gave away a sloppy goal when a long ball was left to bounce too often, and for too long, and Pete Lines raced in to chip Mike Hookway.

The hosts made it 2-0 with a free-kick that crept in at the near post, and when Hookway miskicked a short back-pass to leave a home striker with a simple chance, Town found themselves three behind.

Manager Trevor Holmes juggled his formation, moving Andy McIsaacs from the left flank to the right. That paid dividends when the 19-year-old McIsaacs, who has been something of an unsung hero in recent months, produced a fine dribble and a shot to match to bring it back to 3-1.

A fourth Locks Heath goal followed when Romsey squandered their chances to clear a ball that was deflected to a striker from near the corner flag.

That sealed the result, but there was still time for De'ath and Romero to combine for Woodley to make the score respectable with a rasping drive.