Winchester can be suitably pleased to have moved through to the third round of the Powergen Intermediate Cup, defeating a tenacious challenge from US Portsmouth, who, although not realistically scenting a scalp, gave the home side 'a game'.

There is always the fear of an upset in these kinds of fixtures. Services have started the season well, while Winchester have won one of their four league games and have an injury catalogue that would make Argos jealous!

With a predominantly scratch side, that even required coach Mike Marchant to fulfil a place on the replacement's bench, the home side moved into a 10-0 lead within the first ten minutes when Tom Pervin caught and drove from a lineout and winger Simon Ryan flew in for the second.

Only a stout defensive display from the Portsmouth side kept the hosts out further, but Nick Destefano broke through when his own twisting run flummoxed the cover to cross before the interval.

If Andrew Ashwin had remembered his kicking boots, Winchester would have been well out of sight by the interval and he was no more successful after the break either when centre Simon Jones and lock Rolf Stratford linked well to add a fourth unconverted try.

As the visitors were reduced to 14 when Lee-Jay Colgate, the pacy full-back who had troubled Winchester with his speed if not his general play, was sin-binned, Ashwin used the man overlap to cut inside for a fifth try.

Services did get on to the board when referee Angus Tweedale awarded a penalty try for deliberate and infringing offside against Destefano around the scrum that was edging closer to the try line. Phil Astbury duly showed Ashwin how this conversion game worked!

The game was well dead by this time and Henry Dorling got one for the front row with a bullocking run to the line - Ashwin adding the extra two to ironic cheers - and Marchant found himself in acres of space to collect the fly-half's delicate chip to the wing to add a sealing seventh.

Carl Jones, the recently appointed Services coach, was impressed by his side's performance, especially in the face of being without skipper George Hillan, who was admitted to hospital on Friday evening when his knee swelled up - following the clash with Southampton full-back Neil McBride a month ago.

"I was very impressed, especially with my forwards," said the Navy PTI. "We outdid them up front, but they outdid us in the backs.

"To be fair, I never envisaged we would actually turn them over, but we wanted to give them a game and I believe we have done that."

Marchant, who certainly will not let his charges forget his try in a hurry, felt his side did enough for victory without excelling. "It was not the best performance on the park, but seven tries shows we were dominant enough," he commented.

"What is encouraging from my perspective, with all the injuries we have in the club at the moment, is to see some of the second XV step up and equip themselves admirably in the first-team.

"US were focused on the game and looking for a scalp, but we got away with a reasonable win, if not an emphatic one as the gap of three divisions should depict on paper."