New Milton RFC kept their foot firmly on the promotion pedal as they ran in seven tries at Isle of Wight.

The 51-21 victory keeps Milton nicely placed at the top of Snows Group Hampshire 1 with a five-point cushion over second-placed Petersfield and with a game in hand.

Lee Thomas, Ramon Mallette and Sam Bew struck in the first half and Ben Russell secured the bonus point fourth try after the break.

Ryan Morrell showed his worth as a replacement when he came on to produce a hat-trick for Milton while Adam Lavis kicked 16 points.

New Milton’s man of the match went to first team rookie Martin Wright for his play at prop and in the loose.

Romsey kept themelves well clear of the bottom two by beating Chineham 36-14.

Six tries gave the promoted side a comfortable bonus point win at the Sports Centre.

PJ Boden and Henry Ashton got a couple of tries each, singles came from scrum half Dan Penn-Newman and Guy Bates with the remaining points off the boot of Rob Heighway.

Fordingbridge leap-frogged hosts Sandown & Shanklin who started the day one point in front of the New Forest side.

Bridge’s three-quarters scored the points that gave them a 27-21 against The Hurricanes but captain Steve Brown put much of the victory down to the side’s defence over the final quarter of the match.

Fordingbridge just had the upper hand at the halfway point – a Mat Norton penalty and tries from Alex Davenport and Dan Brown putting them 13-8 ahead.

Sandown grabbed the lead early in the second half with a try from a maul and a penalty but Bridge got back on top when Brown went over again and Norton added the extras.

As the game entered the final stages the Fordingbridge pack started to get to grips with the home side and off the back of a superb scrum Norton crashed through to touch down under the posts. A successful conversion moved Bridge on to 27-16.

However the last 15 minutes was dominated by constant pressure from Sandown and played in the Fordingbridge 22.

Fordingbridge’s next opponents, on March 4, are neighbours and Ellingham & Ringwood.

The latter enjoyed a 45-19 home victory over bottom side Farnborough but did not have it all their own way, with the north Hampshire side leading twice in the first half.

Tries tries from flanker Sam Paton, scrum half Dave Jones and centre Josh Butcher gave the Es’ a 19-14 half-time lead.

Centre Dominic Pitt touched down twice after the break and Butcher also had a good day with his boot.

Fawley found second-placed Snows Group Hampshire 2 side Overton too strong at Gang Warily on the Waterside.

There was hope for the home side after coming back from a couple of tries when Tim Gascoigne crossed the line and converted.

Continued pressure from Overton netted them a 30-12 victory despite a second Fawley try from Dereck Crumb.

Leaders Alresford, who have a game in hand over the leading pack, won 57-0 at Locks Heath Pumas.