It was not pretty or full of flowing rugby but, for Millbrook, it brought to an end their disastrous run of form and moved them back into mid-table in Hampshire Division One.

But, despite recording a 20-10 victory over Hamble, who are still trapped second from bottom of the league, manager Alan Day and his players were unhappy.

For Hamble, whose injury problems are still a major cause for concern on the riverside, this result sent them to their seventh defeat in nine starts but could have, if they had retained the lead they held midway through the second half, eased the pressure off Scott Noble's team.

The stiff, chilly wind advantage that the visitors had in the first half was negated by the slope of the pitch and it proved that way as Millbrook pegged them in their own 22 for the opening quarter - but came away with nothing.

Ings crossed for a try but was adjudged to have received a forward pass from Degei, while Moschakis fumbled an interception, which would have given him a straight run to the line.

The deadlock was finally broken on the midway mark when Degei's burst allowed Richard Wyre to sprint up the right wing, jinking inside to make Owen's conversion attempt easier.

However, with both sides guilty on numerous handling errors, this sole score separated the pair at the break.

Hamble bounced out after the interval, and wrestled the lead within 12 minutes, firstly through a set move from a penalty, with quick hands found Dan Jeffries on the wing, followed shortly afterwards by Mike Sinacola's run and pass to club captain George Winch to go over.

That advantage lasted just seven minutes, prop Shannon Passingham taking advantage of some excellent driving mauls to pile over.

Seamus Noonan had the chance to regain the lead for Hamble, but his miserable day with the boot continued, while Dave Owen's made no mistake with his penalty shot before replacement Dominic Sales ensured the points were Millbrook's.

Day, who played at scrum-half, confirmed his thoughts afterwards: "We are all very disappointed with the way we played. We could not recycle the ball or get into any patterns of play.

"It was a real struggle, bar a few flashes of good play from individuals. As a team, we are happy to come away with the points but the feeling in the dressing room was very quiet as we knew we let ourselves down."

Hamble skipper Scott Noble refused to press the panic button despite the defeat: "We had opportunities to finish the game off but we just didn't take them.

"We are disappointed, but there is no need to start worrying, even though we are second bottom. There is a long way to go yet."

MILLBROOK: Owens, Wyre, Ings, Degei, Moschakis, Randall, Day; Byatt, Goodridge, Passingham, Sign, Watkins, Brown, Weaver, Mulchay (capt). Replacements: Sales for Moschakis (69mins).

Scorers: Richard Wyre 1T, Shannon Passingham 1T, Dominic Sales 1T, Dave Owens 1C 1P.

HAMBLE: Eriksen, Camfield, Hooper, West, Jeffries, Noonan, Winch; Noble (capt), Sinacola, Knight, Clavell, Chadwick, Angell, Cheeseman, Simmons. Replacements: Rangecroft for Simmons (51mins), Glenn for Angell (80mins), Hare for West (80mins).

Scorers: Dan Jeffries 1T, George Winch 1T.

Referee: Simon Thomas (Hampshire Society).