Dramatic late score gives Winchester the winner.

Winchester 12, Tottonians 9.

Derek Manning may have played better games for Winchester but he will never score a more dramatic or more valuable try than he did at Nuns Road last Saturday.

His injury time effort grabbed a win that was looking beyond the hosts despite having made an excellent start. They thus remain in the top half of the table, avoiding the pit of snakes below and knocking Tottonians off the top for good measure.

Within a couple of minutes Simon Farrington had calmly finished off a classical backs move right to left by rounding his man on the outside. For a while there was only one side in the contest and it was not Tottonians. But gradually the visitors pulled themselves together and began to deny Winchester any worthwhile set piece possession.

Full back Richard Buck was looking dangerous, twice being denied by dogged last ditch tackles by the Winchester defence, which kept its concentration well. The visitors simply could not get through, much good possession notwithstanding. Winchester were coping manfully without their first choice front row and Chris Hancock, a centre pressed into service as hooker, won the plaudits of his team mates and head coach as man of the match, not to mention those of a jubilant home crowd at the end. Meanwhile, Tottonians had to rely on a Robbie Searle penalty on the stroke of half time and two more by the hour mark to take the lead from the persevering hosts. Although Winchester heads never dropped, prospects looked grim as the time ebbed away. Only in the last ten minutes or so did the hosts gird their loins for one final push.

Eventually they got a scrum close to the visitors' line but they lost the ball against the head to the accompaniment of what sounded like a thousand groans. All Tottonians had to do was belt the ball into touch and the referee would have blown the final whistle. But cometh the hour cometh the man - Derek Manning. Using his natural height advantage, he plucked the kick out of the air as a gap opened up. He needed no second invitation to stride over for the match winning try, albeit with a hint of stunned surprise along with the elation. Andy Ashwin nonchalantly drop-kicked the conversion from right field and Nuns Road erupted.

It was without doubt the mosts dramatic finish seen at the ground for many years and who can deny the hard working Winchester side a slice of good fortune? Certainly not head coach, Barry Bridgman, who looked like a cat who had not only got the cream but the keys to the dairy also. This was a major scalp for his side and one the supporters will never forget.

Team: Bingham, Davis, Crafford, Kaye, Farrington (Brown 70), Rogers, Ashwin, Moreton, Hancock, Bainbridge, Hayes, Manning, Piper, Kirkaldy, Knight.

Other senior games were called off last weekend. The 1st XV have no game on Saturday (9th), but return to league action at Gosport and Fareham on Saturday 16th, kick off 2pm.