PAXTON PUMAS maintained their unbeaten Hampshire Division Three league record and in the process swiped Alresford of theirs in a tense contest, which ebbed and flowed right to the final whistle.

The victory was gained despite having to resist an Alresford barrage in the last ten minutes. Running and burrowing at the Pumas line, the hosts stood firm but were fortunate not to concede or be penalised deep into injury time.

An Alresford drive towards the line was halted when the maul collapsed, but no penalty decision came and when the ball was spun out to the screaming replacement Luke Swaffield, he spilled the pass with the line at his mercy.

It was the final action of the game, as the Alresford side remonstrated, and the Pumas team celebrated the best result of the short history.

To be fair, Paxton deserved their victory having held the lead for the majority of the match and played the more attacking game with skipper Richard Jones and full-back Gez Laker sticking to the game plan of kicking the ball behind the lines.

This plan worked perfectly twice, the first after just two minutes when Stuart Williams sprinted around the Alresford backs to cross.

Andy McWilliams slotted a penalty to bring the visitors within two points, but Julian Beard's catch and drive from a line-out put Jones' men 10-3 to the good at the interval.

Some stern words from their coach did the trick for Alresford immediately after the break, with Glenn Walsh on hand to collect the try from a driving maul; McWilliams adding the additional points to tie the scores.

It set up a grandstand last half-hour with both sides having chances to score but for the final pass.

And it was left to the veteran Laker who settled Pumas' nerves, successfully posting a penalty after missing four previous attempts.

A nervous and intense closing ten saw Paxton withstand the pressure and claim their ninth straight victory in all matches and their fourth league triumph out of four, reducing the gap at the head of Hampshire Three to two points with two games in hand.

"A tremendous performance from the lads," said jubilant Paxton captain, Richard Jones. "Alresford beat us comfortably twice last season but we have improved considerably since then.

"We knew they would be strong up front but we played that to our advantage by kicking it behind their lines and getting their big guys running around.

"The season has been superb for us so far with this being our ninth win in a row and that is all credit to the lads who have put the work in alongside our new coach Ian Palmer, who can attribute our success."