BASINGSTOKE Griffins ended Lymington Mariners’ 100 per cent record in the Hampshire South West Merit League thanks to a superb 20-8 victory on the south coast.

The home side had won their first 10 games of the season and they took only 10 minutes to open the scoring in this game with an unconverted try.

However, the Griffins, who themselves have only lost twice this season, took control of the game and pushed the Mariners back, holding on to possession at the breakdown and at the set piece, expertly marshalled by scrum-half Ben Hall.

A series of phases down the right flank led to a ’Stoke scrum, which was picked up some 15 metres out by Chris Dorling. He smashed his way through four defenders to go over the line to level the score at 5-5.

The visitors dominated possession for the remainder of the half, their forwards putting in a huge shift and defending resolutely.

The Mariners struggled to make anything of their limited possession, despite ’Stoke going down to 14 men when Jonah Wright was given a yellow card for throwing an elbow.

After the break, Basingstoke started well as fly-half Daniel Williams bossed the game and used the pace of the backline to good effect.

The visitors kept the pressure up, with some huge tackles stopping Mariners, who began to lose their discipline and Williams slotted over a penalty from 30 metres.

This was quickly followed by another score as man-of-the-match Steve Briggs broke through the Mariners defence with a surging run before he put Josh Cowell in for a superb try in the corner.

Sensing a momentous win, the Griffins kept up the pressure in the closing minutes, with Dean Lewis finishing off some great phases and crashing over for a score that Williams converted to complete the 20-8 victory.

Griffins coach Steve Parker said: “It was a superb team effort, possibly the best in my time as coach.

“We were committed, well-drilled and quite possibly something of a surprise to Lymington.

“We trained well on Friday to prepare for this game, and despite missing a few regular players, those called in stepped up really well.”

He added: “Our forwards bossed the breakdown, allowing the backs to make some good gains. It was great to see the combination of Ben Hall and Dan Williams back together, and I must also give a shout out to Brent Evans, our usual scrum-half, who found himself at outside centre. He put in a huge shift of big tackles, rucking and some great carries.

“However, man-of-the-match was the 51-year-old Steve Briggs for his tackling, rucking, carrying and organising our forwards all day. He was a real handful.

“The result puts us in a great position going into the second half of the season. We are enjoying our rugby and looking forward to each game.”

This weekend the Griffins are at home to Southamp-ton II, while the Dragons are also at Down Grange, where they face Chobham.

The Cavaliers have a trip to local rivals Overton II and fifths travel to Gosport and Fareham III.