TOTTONIANS are officially the top rugby union club in the whole of Hampshire.

Their steady march through the league ranks in recent years earned them a place in London One South for this season.

And a brilliant away victory at Maidstone at the weekend put them above successful fellow county sides Gosport & Fareham and Havant.

Totts chairman Paul Searle knows it is only five games into the season and there is a long way to go.

Nevertheless, he heralded the weekend a milestone for the club and everyone involved in it.

He said: “I’m so proud, especially as most of the players are home grown. We had three second rows out on Saturday but we still managed to pull off the win so strength and depth is good.

“A crowd of us were up at Twickenham on Saturday and having a beer when the result came through.

I said then the Twickers result doesn’t matter as I already had my result of the day.

“Apparently it was the first time Maidstone have been beaten at home since 2013.”

It looked as if Totts had taken the lead after 20 minutes when Nick Wood went over the line, but he was deemed to have been held up.

The ball was then quickly spun out wide from a five metre scrum and Bart van Herwijnen crashed over before captain Robbie Searle converted and followed that kick up with a drop goal.

Maidstone came back into the game but fine defence, particularly from Joe Searle and Mike Wisnewski, kept them at bay.

The home side were eventually rewarded with a penalty to get them to 10-3 down at the break.

But constant pressure from Totts in the second half earned them three penalties, all nailed by Robly opened in the second half.

In a display of superb running and creative team rugby, tries from Dan Brown (2), Rob Hay, John Dossitt, Harry Hitchings, Mark Hammond, Dean Lewis and a second from Brittan put Bridge out of sight.

Imperious The scores were complimented by an imperious performance with the boot from man of the match Mat Norton, who not only converted every single try, but kicked two penalties and two superb cross kicks for Dan Brown and Dean Lewis to collect and score from.

Fordingbridge have a five-point lead at the top, though chasing third-placed side Millbrook, who did not have a game at the weekend, have a game in hand.

Ellingham and Ringwood matched Farnborough’s two tries but poor discipline from the home side meant they lost out 26-15. The Es’ tries came from their two wing three-quarters Ben Carey and Chris Frost.

Full back Josh Butcher made one conversion and a penalty.

Don’t miss Friday’s Daily Echo for Clive Downton’s weekend previews.

Dan Brown goes on the attack in Fordingbridge’s decisive victory over Isle of Wight. Picture: Geoff Bell.

Bart van Herwijnen scored a try as Tottonians climbed to the apex of Hampshire rugby.

bie Searle.

Totts held a 19-3 lead with five minutes to go, but battling Maidstone struck with a late converted try.

Paul Searle added: “There is a real buzz about the club at the moment.

I have a band of committee members who all pull together and make things easy for me. It’s the all-round effort from everybody involved.

“It’s not rocket science what we are doing but you do have to have everybody pulling in the same direction.

Effectively the under-7s coach is coaching those lads so he can put some blokes in the first team in ten or 12 years time. That’s how it works and it’s working well.”

Gosport & Fareham are secondfrom- bottom on seven points along with three other clubs following a 40-17 defeat at Sidcup.

Gos went 5-0 up with a try from Levi Hui Hui but trailed 28-5 at half time.

Their second-half scores came with tries from prop Justin Powell and debutant wing Darren Pankhurst. Sam Forster converted one.

Havant lost 37-22 at home to Sutton.