FOUR Romsey brothers who are battling a rare syndrome have been awarded club shirts by their local rugby club.

Members were touched by the plight of the Hartley brothers, Joshua, 12, Nathan, 10, Daniel, 8, and Luke, 4, who all suffer from X-linked Lymphoproliferative Syndrome.

The future looks bright as bone marrow matches have been found for all four boys.

Hundreds of Romsey people, including many from the rugby club, gave blood to see if their marrow was the right match.

Joshua has had the operation but was receiving treatment in Southampton General Hospital and so missed the presentation on Saturday before the home match with Guernsey.

Club social secretary Stuart McCormick said: "When we originally met the Hartleys, we joked about them playing for the club. We thought giving the shirts would help keep the momentum going for them."

David Hartley, the boys' father, of Winchester Road, paid tribute to the club. "They have been superb.

"There's no reason why the boys couldn't be turning out for the club in the future."

Mr Hartley said the publicity about his sons had led to a big increase in bone marrow available for transplants.

"Our outlook is to look for the good that can come out of the bad.

"The fact that 4,500 people have been helped is sensational."

Mr Hartley said that Daniel was due to have his transplant at the end of October, with Nathan following in 2005 and Luke in 2006.