EASTLEIGH continue to lead Hampshire’s charge in London 3 South-West.

They returned from bottom-side Purley John Fisher with a 42-0 win under their belt to cement their mid-table position and keep the leaders in their sight.

Eastleigh started strong and early tries from Jack Curtis and Ash Holland, with one converted by Russell Smith, set the tone for things to come.

A well-placed chip from Phil Baldwin bounced perfectly into the hands of James Pickett to touch down for Eastleigh’s third and a cleverly taken quick tap-and-go penalty by Ben White gave them the bonus point try.

The visitors rounded off the first half with another try, a second for Holland who used some neat footballing skills to kick the ball to bounce up into his hands and dot down under the posts.

The second half started much the same way as the first 40 minutes – Eastleigh’s strong pack dominating the home side and forcing a number of penalties to push Purley deep into their own half.

A second try for Jack Curtis was followed up with a seventh overall, when Eastleigh’s scrum drove over the line to allow captain Paul Fudio to dot down to make the score 37-0.

The final try came from Will Todd, who raced clear of the defence following a well-worked backline move.

Eastleigh’s man of the match was awarded to Tom Nixon who had travelled from Guernsey to make his first XV league debut.

New Milton gave leaders Camberley a fright but lost out in a 15-try nailbiting clash at Ashley Rec.

In essence it was top versus bottom (Purley John Fisher are at the foot after having five points deducted) and showed there is not much between sides in this hotly-contested league.

At one point Milton looked as if they would throw the form book out of the window and record their first win of the season, but they lost 53-41.

The New Forest side trailed 29-10 at half time – Chris Conacher and Dave Simmons both touching down.

Milton gave their visitors a scare after the break with tries from Ben Russell, Sam Bew, another from man-of-the-match Simmons, Brendan Treacey and Ramon Mallette. Adam Lavis made three conversions.