An injury-time penalty by centre Dan Kinsey gave Winchester a vital two points in their bottom-of-the-table clash with Cobham, and allowed a little breathing space between them and the trapdoor.

It was all going very nicely for the Nuns Road side, who moved serenely into a 10-0 and a 15-5 lead before half-time after Nick Destefano burrowed over from close range and Ed Ravenhill found space on the left to ease the visitors clear.

Kinsey's conversion and penalty had given Winchester their comfortable cushion and they were enjoying plenty of the ball but the confidence so lacking was proving their downfall in the final moments.

And it almost cost them the full bounty of points as Cobham clawed their way back, grabbing a score-levelling try with two minutes remaining.

Three Martin Livesey drop-goal attempts sailed wide in Winchester's desperate attempt to make their efforts pay off with a win and the game was almost up when Kinsey coolly hit his penalty, awarded eight minutes into added time, to seal their fourth win of the season.

"I am delighted to win but I know there is still a long way to go," felt coach Mike Marchant afterwards.

Gosport & Fareham's juggernaut revival machine rolls on with their best win of the season, defeating third-placed Wimbledon 19-3 to lift themselves ever closer to safety.

It was achieved even though they were forced into a reshuffle after just 12 minutes when winger Steve Emm was forced off and prop Darren Jessup was also replaced nine minutes later. Flanker Mark Osborne was required in the centre and played a key role.

"Os was awesome. He made a real difference when he was moved there," said stand-in skipper Fred Dugan after the Surrey side came up against the rejuvenated Gosport, who are unbeaten since returning to familiar surrounds on the peninsular.

Coach Sean Fanning, forced into action through injuries elsewhere, scored a vintage try while Chris Thompson and Jon Wood made it onto the score sheet.

"This result will definitely send out a signal to the rest of the teams in this league," continued Dugan.

Portsmouth edged away from the danger zone and kept Andover very much in it by sinking them 35-24, but they eased off the gas to allow the All Blacks two tries in the final ten minutes.

Havant have kept the pressure firmly on the top two in London One by overcoming the awkward trip to London Nigerian, whitewashing them 28-0 in difficult conditions at the Linford Christie Stadium.

A full house of points from Steve Claffey - a try, conversion, penalty and drop-goal - led the way as Havant maintained their recent good run to stay very much in contention for a swift return to National League rugby.

"It was good to come through this game with two points," admitted chairman of rugby Adam King. "With several clubs in the running, points difference could well come into the equation, so today did us no harm."