Southampton came out on top against Aldershot & Fleet with a 15-9 win, but the scoreline stayed tight throughout the game. After the last-minute disappointment at Overton a fortnight earlier, this was tension coach Mark Flower said he "could really do without at my age, thank you".

Southampton dominated much of the early stages but were stopped short of the A&F line on two occassions, before Ryan Keary added three points from a penalty.

But the visitors came close a few times, with Chris Milne putting in a huge hit on his own line to keep a big runner at bay. A&F's job became harder on the half hour mark when their fly half was sinbinned for handling on the floor.

Southampton applied the pressure with the man advantage but when a huge rolling maul suddenly went to ground a yard short of the line, the ref only awarded a Southampton scrum when he could have easily given more.

Southampton's forwards continued to hammer at the line and thought they had grounded the ball on two occassions, but the ref was unsighted. Eventually it was Pete Fox who managed to get the ball down after another great effort from the pack. Rob Gould added the two points for a 10-0 lead at half time.

But the second half saw Aldershot and Fleet claw their way back into the game almost immediately as they bagged three penalties, including an excellent long range effort to come within a point at 10-9.

Southampton extended their lead after a break from Adam Zeller, who had replaced the injured Mark Waterer for his first match since returning from the high seas.

Zeller cut through a dog-legged defence and got up to speed quickly, drawing in the last man before finding Julian Robins, who ran in for his thirteenth try of the season.

The visitors had another man sinbinned when their number eight took out Saints' scrum half from the side of a ruck with Southampton camped on the A&F line, but the resulting penalty move was held up over the line.

Aldershot and Fleet were still within a converted try and they kept fighting until the end, taking a series of scrums on the Southampton line after infringements in defence.

The Southampton scrum stood firm, and as the ref signalled the final play the ball was thrown out to the backs and knocked on by the A&F fly half, ending their chances of a dramatic victory.

It was a solid performance from Southampton against a side who are also in the hunt for promotion- and who had said before the game they were confident of getting the win.

Saints are now six points clear at the top with Overton in second. Aldershot & Fleet drop to fourth.