WHILE Gosport & Fareham's crucial 14-11 win over Wimbledon does not lift them out of London Division 2 South's bottom three, it does give them renewed hope of beating the drop.

Skipper Simon Burns' try with only two minutes left, having come on a replacement, scotched Wimbledon's hopes of claiming a surprise win.

Having trailed 7-3 at the break to James Wagstaffe's try, the Londoners closed down the lead and took over all in the space of 14 second-half minutes while Fred Dugan was in the sin-bin.

Holding on for dear life to their advantage, they tried in vain to protect it by conceding penalty after penalty before Burns squeezed over for the hosts at the death.

Much was owed to fact that Gosport could field their full strength squad and coach Sean Fanning was adamant that anything short of that "Would not have been good enough today."

He added: "I am very relieved. We needed that win and, with the side we put out, I was expecting a bigger win but Wimbledon played well. However, it was important for us to win and I think we deserved both points."

Portsmouth maintained their grip on the league leadership by winning at Lewes but Barnes' crushing victory over Sidcup keeps the pressure firmly on at the top.

Havant's away day blues just will not go away and they suffered again on the road, this time going down 35-7 to promotion chasing Lydney despite leading to an early Ali Ramus try.

They felt particularly hard dealt with by the 'team of three' partnership, who hit them with a penalty count of 35 against just three against the hosts. It seemed to give the Gloucestershire men all the incentive they needed to keep Havant on the back foot.

Director of rugby Adam King was not putting all the blame on the officials, however. He blasted: "Although the conditions were atrocious, so in large parts was our performance and once again I am left thinking we were outbattled by a side who revel in playing at home as much as we do."

The powerful home side blew the Hampshire side away after leading 7-0 but didn't concede in the final quarter when the damage was already done.