Aldershot & Fleet 21 - 7 Southampton

Southampton's hopes of staying unbeaten came to an abrupt end against Aldershot and Fleet, after conceding 13 points inside the first fifteen minutes.

An early converted try and two penalties put Southampton on the back foot, before Julian Robins got Southampton off the mark with a breakaway try down the right wing.

Southampton were forced into making two first half replacements when Fraser Chisholm, playing his last game before relocating to Scotland, broke his ribs and was replaced by Rob Greenaway. They then lost captain Dave Ward, who dislocated his knee, forcing Chris Alston to move to scrum half.

Aldershot extended their lead further with a drop goal which gave them a 16-7 lead at half time.

In the second half, Southampton's forwards raised their game and began to make good ground through a number of rolling mauls. With A&F struggling to stop the drives, the ref failed to spot the home side blatantly collapsing the maul on a number of occasions - much to the disgust of the Southampton coaches.

Aldershot then doubled their try count after exploiting an overlap on the left wing. They could have had another, but a try saving tackle from Ray Davies kept them out.

Adam Tyson came close for Southampton and a video replay probably would have confirmed the ball had been grounded, but the ref disallowed the effort. Ryan Keary also made an excellent break down the left, but the defence held tight.

The game finished 21-7, meaning Southampton could not even claim a losing bonus point. However all the teams who started the day ahead of Southampton also lost, meaning Southampton now sit in joint third place.