It’s three wins out of three for Winchester ahead of Saturday’s top-of-the-table visit to Woking which will probably be the pointer towards a potential Hampshire/Surrey Regional League promotion push by the city club.

Winchester turned on the style, scoring three second half goals to complete a 5-1 thrashing of Havant II – a result which leaves them narrowly trailing Woking, 3-0 winners at Epsom, by a goal difference of one.

But Winchester had to soak up 20 minutes of territorial Havant pressure before asserting their authority on proceedings at Kings’, where the visitors gained very few insertions into the D during that opening spell.

Winchester forced a string of penalty corners and seized the initiative through Ed Player – a lead Kent Langridge doubled after Rob Ritchie burst into the D and did everything but score himself.

Teenager JJ Brown’s drag flick rekindled Havant’s spirits, but in the second period his side were outplayed.

Winchester were happy to keep possession, moving the ball around the back four for long periods and then exploding with an injection of pace through their fast, rotating forwards, Craig Jeffrey, Tristam Marshall, Eric Woodward and Kent Langridge to harry the Havant defence.

It was Stuart Swift, however, who took star billing initially with two successive goals as Chris Jackson released Rob Craddock to bear down on the Havant goal and slip to the veteran striker.

He was also on hand to slap home the fourth as Mark Maunsell burst through the Havant midfield and found Swift at the far post who spun and planted it past the Havant keeper.

The fifth and final goal was a sweeping counter attack from a Havant penalty corner passing rapidly through a number of players to reach Swift again at the far post who gave up his chance of a hat trick from close range to set up the unmarked Craig Jeffery to convert.