TWO sides without a win to their name in atrocious conditions. Yes, the game lived up to its expectations but Romsey didn't mind - they beat Old Emanuel 16-15 and are no longer bottom of the table.

They leapfrogged their Surrey opponents and are now level on points with Southampton - who they meet in three weeks - after the latter were thumped 37-0 at Old Reigatian.

Romsey, with the elements behind them in the first half, surged into a 13-3 interval lead as Richard Allen-Williams and Jerry Francis both crossed and the keen Graham Noble, again back from Exeter University to play, kicked a penalty.

With Romsey's scrum dominant, OE's were not in the game and this suited this home side but Darren Sharpe's innocuous sin-binning, the first of his career, gave the visitors some hope and they came back with two unconverted tries.

With just a point separating the sides going into the final quarter, the match turned nasty and Stuart McCormick and two Emanuel players were both dismissed for foul play.

But Romsey held out to claim their first win of the season. "Our scrummaging was awesome," said clubman Gary Banks, "but it certainly wasn't a good game, as you would probably expect from a match between two sides at the bottom."

Troubled Southampton, without captain Tony Cador who has left the club, have been dragged into the relegation mire after they were hammered by a well-drilled Reigatian outfit.

New leader Marcus Coffin was disappointed that his side were unable to turn any of the pressure they had into points.

He felt they were outplayed in most departments and has urged his side to focus hard on the matches ahead.

"Our scrummage wasn't very good, which didn't allow Paul Brant enough good ball. But we kept our heads up and kept battling right to the end, so we must now look to the crucial home games ahead."

Petersfield threw away a one-point lead to leaders Dorking by conceding three second half tries, but coach Mike O'Shea was not downhearted by his side's performance as they went down 25-7.