Winchester dropped back to the bottom of London Division 1 - and they cannot blame anyone but themselves for a disappointing performance against the side they have replaced in the depths, Harlow.

In this must-win game, Winchester didn't. They squandered a number of opportunities and allowed their visitors, who have won their last two games, two soft tries to gift them victory and a host of other chances.

There are questions now for coach Mike Marchant, who could take just a fortunate try from Scott Turner and Andy Ashwin's conversion and confident penalty strike from this desperate 12-10 home defeat.

"It certainly is not looking good and we are making it very difficult for ourselves now," said a depressed coach. "No one is giving up, not least myself.

"All we need to do is find our direction. This was a game we should and could have won, especially given the few moments of magic we created, but the problem is that we are not threading them all together.

"We showed in beating Hertford that we are a capable side, but we have just lost that edge which is causing us not to tick right now."

It is much better for Tottonians though, who have stretched their lead at the top of London Division 4 South-West to a mammoth six points, but they were given a hard game against a resurgent Petersfield.

After they had waded through the heavy conditions to open up a 16-0 lead, the second half was considerably more even and remained scoreless until the visitors ran out of steam in the last ten, when Simon Dine furthered his growing reputation at hooker to drive over and secure the points.

Take nothing away from Petersfield though, who gained some territorial advantage with their driving mauls but had no answer to the Tottonians' solidity in defence after Michael Searle's try and Paul Goodall's three penalties and conversions had moved the hosts well clear.

Neil Arnold replied for 'Field with a well struck penalty, but they could not break the resolve and Totts march on to their intriguing Intermediate Cup clash at Thurrock next weekend.

One side sensing a revival of their fortunes are Portsmouth, who have pulled back into fifth in London Division 2 South with an excellent 29-12 win at mid-table Sevenoaks - a difficult side to beat on their own patch.

Having fallen behind early on, Portsmouth's heavier forwards began to dominate although it was centre Matthew Gronow who broke their duck. When Neil Styles hit the conversion and a penalty, it eased them into a 10-7 interval lead.

The scoreline could have been more comprehensive after James Pegler, Anthony Russell and Mike Vine had moved the Rugby Camp side to a comfortable 29-7, only for them to concede a second try in the last few minutes.

Despite that, director of rugby Nigel Morgan felt his side played well.

"The forwards were excellent and we were sharper outside as well," he said. "This was a potentially difficult game but we won and came through, except for Steve Cox picking up a little knock, without any more injuries."