JUBILATION: Winning six-a-side boys team Elson parade around The Dell on their lap of honour.

SAINTS made sure their first football family fun-day went with a real swing - by pulling off a vital victory at Wimbledon.

The party could have fallen flat if the team had lost and been left staring relegation in the face.

But their 2-0 win means they will survive if they beat Everton at The Dell on Sunday in what would be an even more fun day!

That success created a happy mood as more than 2,000 fans took the chance to look behind the scenes, try their luck at a special shooting board or have their picture taken with the FA Cup.

Around £1,000 was raised for the Leukaemia Busters charity thanks to FA Cup sponsor AXA, which brought the famous trophy back to The Dell where it was reunited with David Peach, one of the stars of the 1976 Wembley win.

He said: "The trophy has a real aura about it. Everyone wants to get their hands on it - but nothing beats doing it for real!"

And on the pitch there was joy for Elson Boys and Heatherside Girls in the finals of the Six-a-Side Soccer Chal-lenge, sponsored by West Quay Shopping Centre in conjunction with the Southern Daily Echo.

Elson took the lead against St Mary's with a superb first-time sidefoot by Rory Williams but were pegged back by a cracking free kick from Adam Pirch who rifled into the top right corner.

The final was a draw but Elson won because they won more corners, a rule which also decided the girls' final as Heatherside of Basingstoke beat Newlands of Millbrook.

Boys' quarter-final: Harefield beat Hatch Warren by one corner; Elson 1, Heatherside 0; Chalk ridge beat Kings Somborne 2-1 on corners; St Mary's beat St Anthonys 2-1 on corners.

Boys' semi-final: Elson beat Harefeld 2-0 on corners, St Mary's beat Chalk ridge 1-0. Boys' final: Elson 1 St Mary's 1 (Elson won 1-0 on corners).

Girls' semi-final: Heatherside 1 Mengham 0; Newlands 1 Hatch Warren 0. Girls' final: Heatherside won 1-0 on corners following a 0-0 draw.

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