Trojans had to withstand a gallant late Hamble comeback before securing a 3-2 victory over their local Hampshire/Surrey Regional League leadership rivals at Stoneham Lane.

It looked all over bar the proverbial shouting with Hamble 3-0 behind and only ten minutes of a typically robust derby remaining.

But the visitors hit back hard in the closing stages to produce a tense finale to a highly charged affair in which yellow cards were handed out with some regularity.

With the outcome likely to be crucial in the pre-Christmas leadership chase, the stakes were high - and, predictably, no quarter was given.

Trojans drew first blood with Chris Wiseman forcing his way through two challenges before slipping the ball past the advancing Steve Chalcraft.

The goal knocked Hamble's confidence.

Trojans better team play enabled them to enjoy 65 per cent of the possession, while the visitors over -relied on individuality.

Two crucial passages of early second half play involving Wayne Shepherd swung the match in Trojans favour.

First, the seasoned Trojans player blocked a certain Steve Barber equaliser after Steve Cole had been lured out of his goal.

Then, moments later, Shepherd broke down the left and set up the opportunity for Hamble old boy Paul Hilton to make it 2-0.

When Chalcraft was sin-binned for upending Wiseman - he was fortunate not to have spent the remainder of the game on the touchline - it looked curtains for the visitors.

Wayne Shepherd rifled the resulting penalty flick past his replacement Mike Heaver. Trojans 3-0.

But it was the somewhat farsical swapping of Hamble goalkeepers, which delayed proceedings for well over ten minutes, that prompted the late drama.

Almost immediately Chalcraft returned to the fray, Steve Barber caught Trojans cold to snare his 16th Hamble goal of the season.

Cue late drama, more yellow cards and, with Trojans reduced to nine men, a second Hamble goal - this time from a penalty corner by their Egyptian star Ezz.

But Hamble, who had scored 26 times in winning their last five matches, were unable to save it - the victory giving Trojans a four-point advantage at the top with two games left before the Christmas break.

At the opposite end of the Regional League table, neither Winchester nor Southampton were able to move away from the fringe of the danger zone after a 2-2 draw at Kings.

With top scorer Chris Stokes nursing a broken thumb, Southampton were lacking a cutting edge, but they scored first with teenager Alex Tong converting Kelvin Wyatt's pass.

Winchester, aiming to end a run of six successive defeats, turned the match on its head through a Mark Dobbie double.

But Southampton ensured a share of the spoils with Neil Hanley equalising and securing a fourth point of the season.