WITH the league taking a break next week for the return of cup competitions, Portsmouth are sitting pretty at the top of London Division Two South, the only unbeaten side, after they worked hard beating Wimbledon while nearest rivals Lewes sank at Guildford.
Even though they never looked likely to lose to the side second bottom of the league, Portsmouth were not comfortably positioned either until Grant Erskine hit a penalty towards the end to reengage a two-score cushion.
They trailed 13-12 at the break against the wind but two tries from hooker Dave Needham and number eight James Pegler relieved the pressure.
"We struggled and we were not at our best, but we were not allowed to be," admitted rugby manager Nigel Morgan.
"We needed this hard game and we got it as Wimbledon were the best side we have played this year, even though they are at the bottom of the table."
Thanks to Lewes's 17-14 defeat at Guildford, Portsmouth have opened up a two-point gap over the rest of the pack - that doesn't include Gosport & Fareham, who slipped to a 10-5 reverse at Sidcup.
Patched-up Gosport only scored in second-half injury time when newcomer Wayne John hit a long-range kick deep into Sidcup territory and skipper Simon Burns and number eight Chris Thompson raced to the ball, getting the touchdown between them.
It was too late to make a difference as the peninsular side went down to their second defeat of the campaign on the road.
"We have got to be disappointed," felt Burns. "We didn't seem to get out of our own half in the first.
"Three or four time we were in good attacking positions but we didn't recycle the ball. I thought their back row and their scrum-half won the game for them."
There was little cheer for Havant as they still search for their first point since their promotion back to the National League as they went down 31-19 to Reading, seeing them slip to second bottom of the table.
In London One, Basingstoke tossed away a 10-7 lead at Canterbury to record a fifth straight loss (24-10) and are are bottom of the table.
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