It was Hook and Odiham who opened the scoring as their fly half slotted over a penalty after Saints were penalised for not releasing. But Saints countered quickly through Jordan Dashwood. After attacking down the right through Jack Leadbitter Saints found themselves with numbers on the left. The ball was shifted quickly, including an excellent miss pass from Alex Hill who found Dashwood ten meters from the Hook line. He still had plenty to do, but beat three defenders to open Saints' account. Tom Howells was slightly fortunate to see his conversion go over after hitting a post and the crossbar, but Saints led 3-7.

With a strong breeze behind them, Hook largely relied on the excellent boot of their fly half to make ground. Saints full back Aaron Owen proved to be a safe pair of hands under a number of high balls, including claiming a mark under pressure in front of the posts, before clearing to touch. Hook added a second penalty, but Saints soon struck back themselves. A series of crashes from the forwards took them close to the line but the defence held firm. Ryan Morrell also thought he had done enough to score but the ref decided he had knocked on, bringing play back for a Saints scrum following an earlier Hook knock on. Dashwood picked up from the back of the scrum and found Tom Howells in support, who jinked his way through the defence for Saints' second try.

Hook rarely threatened the Saints line in the first half, but did have one opportunity after working the ball out to their right winger. But as Charles Wylde came up to make the tackle, the Hook winger floored him with a forearm to the face. The ref decided a Saints penalty was sufficient punishment but Hook's opportunity was gone.

The frustration was starting to show from the home side, who were then penalised and marched back after questioning the ref's decision to award Saints a knock on. Things then got worse as Josh Fearon finished off a move on the left for the visitors' third try. Tom Howell's conversion made the score 6-19 at half time.

Hook and Odiham made some changes to the pack at half time and started the second half strongly, using their big forwards to crash the ball towards the Saints' line. The defence held firm and Saints were able to clear their line, before electing to kick for three points after a Hook infringement in front of the posts.

Saints also made some changes at half time, which saw Tyler Ross making his return from injury at second row. Ross got stuck into the action immediately, carrying strongly and making some big tackles. Gus Nye was typically mobile around the park, putting in big hits and regularly cropping up in support in attack.

The next try came from Aaron Owen who rounded the defence on the right wing, before replacement Tiko finished off Saints' fifth on the left wing after some quick hands from the backs.

The game was then forced to adopt uncontested scrums after Hook lost a prop after some ferocious scrummaging by Ian Budd (according to Ian Budd). This provided both sides with clean ball and clear opportunities for number eight pick-ups. Jordan Dashwood made the most of this as he rounded off the scoring with his second try of the game - and Saints' sixth.

The final score was 6 - 39, with Saints grabbing another bonus point win to stay top of the table. Gus Nye was awarded Man of the Match and the Hook and Odiham Man of the Match's designated drinker (the fly half) claimed the record for the fastest pint I've seen downed in a while.

Saints have a friendly next week away to Fareham Heathens IIs, before crucial fixtures against fellow title hopefuls Nomads and Lymington.

Massive thanks to Ian Thacker for providing the photos.