Despite the absence of regulars Pete Fox, Chris Milne, Ian Budd and Rob Gould, Southampton wrapped up promotion in style as they demolished Lymington Mariners at Test Park.

Dave Ward kicked things off after a break from scrum half Hector Bevit-Smith, who drew his man and put Ward through after 8 minutes. Julian Robins was next on the scoreboard as he ran in two first half scores, with Chris Alston wrapping up the bonus point with Southampton’s fourth try after only twenty minutes.

Harry King took the score to 31-0 when he crossed for Southampton’s fifth, with Bunny rounding off the first half with a typical jinking break that saw him outpace the Lymington defence round the outside.

Southampton were completely dominant and made excellent ground through the forwards, who controlled the ball well and sucked in the defenders, creating gaps for the dangerously quick backs. Lymington struggled at the set piece, with a number of line outs going loose and James Mankievicz stealing countless scrums against the head. Without decent ball, Lymington struggled to mount an attack and never really threatened Saints, making the score 38-0 at half time.

Hector Bevit-Smith started the scoring in the second half after another blistering break from Bunny, who beat half the team on his own, before unselfishly offloading for Hex to score.

Chris Alston then grabbed the try of the day, as he returned the ball from deep inside his own twenty two after a Lymington kick. A neat one-two with Dave Ward beat the last man and left Alston a run in from halfway.

Harry King claimed his second try to take Saints to 57 points before Jules earned a hat trick jug as he completed his hat-trick just after the hour mark.

Doug Barrow replaced Tom Jackson on the flank and got on the scoreboard almost immediately. Dave Ward then added his second try, again benefitting from Bunny’s hard work and taking a simple offload two yards out.

As the 80 minutes was up, Dave Ward and Kev Simmons then showed quick hands in front of the Lymington posts to put Doug Barrow in for his second try, with Keary’s conversion taking his personal tally to 20 points and Southampton to 85-0.

Some excellent performances from the Southampton lads, in particular Chris Alston and Kevin Simmons, but Harry King earned the Man of the Match jacket for excellent support play that could have easily bagged him more than the two tries he did score.

Overton lost to Aldershot & Fleet, meaning they cannot catch Southampton who will be promoted back to Hampshire One. A single point from the last two games will also see Saints crowned as champions, with the next game being against the league’s bottom side Stoneham.