A NEW wave of optimism is pouring through Fawley after the disappointment of an injury-ravaged relegation season last term - and signs of the improvement were evident as they crushed a strong Andover II 38-12 on Saturday.

A try brace from centre Iain Sinclair and three further tries, coupled with a 13-point haul through Lee Haisman completed the superb victory that puts Bob Conway's side on a good footing ahead of their competitive start next week.

Everything went their way and Conway was well pleased with the way the game panned out.

"Good scrums and line-outs resulted in lots of possession for both forwards and backs. That gave us territory gains and then points," he claimed.

Fellow Hampshire two sides Ellingham & Ringwood and Eastleigh battled it out at the blustery New Forest plains of Picket Post and it was home side who picked up a 13-11 win, thanks to Andy Weeks's last-ditch penalty.

With the conditions making play difficult, John Palacio's two penalties gave Eastleigh a first-half lead. However, E&R winger Dan Farmer reduced that to a single point immediately on the restart when he crossed in the corner.

Palacio found himself on the end of Adam Blythe's pass to extend the advantage back to six when he ran in to the corner.

But an end-to-end contest continued when Farmer added his second try after Eastleigh allowed him to take a penalty quickly and score.

Just as Eastleigh thought they had their second win of the season, a misplaced kick cost them dear and Weeks was allowed the kick to win the game for the hosts - which he gratefully accepted.

Stoneham got their season up and running as they handed New Milton & District III a 36-5 thrashing with a performance that coach Tiernan Simmons barely recognised from last weeks' disappointing Junior Vase exit.

Two tries from James Fuller was the highlight as good defence and positive phase and support play came to the fore for the rebuilding Hampshire Three outfit and Simmons, one of the try scorers, was delighted to see such an improvement.

"Admittedly, Milton didn't come at us through the middle but the scrum was a lot better and we pushed them backwards which was great to see as we have been working on that," he said.

"It will be a different deal against East Dorset in a fortnight but this is very positive."