ELLINGHAM & Ringwood moved into second place in Hampshire Division 1 with a comprehensive 56-0 victory over Chineham at the Raymond Brown Memorial Ground on Saturday.

Ellingham started well with an early try from wing three quarter Chris Gillespie in his first start for the firsts. Centre Josh Butcher added the conversion and a penalty before the opposite wing Chris Frost and scrum half Dave Jones also scored tries to make it 20-0 at half time.

Playing towards a big crowd at the club house end, Ellingham played some attractive and expansive rugby in the second half and the crowd were rewarded with three further tries from debutant Gillespie, one from Jones and tries for full back Dominic Pitt and fly half Charlie Cockram. Butcher added a further three conversions to make the final score 56-0.

Es coach Alan Steel said: “We put in our best performance for several seasons on Saturday and are now playing with much more confidence.

“I was pleased with the quality of our defence, but there are still areas we need to work on before our national cup game away at Woking on Saturday."

Ellingham & Ringwood seconds lost 19-16 to Bournemouth fourths in Dorset Division 2 at home.

Ellingham were awarded a penalty try following a series of infringements by Bournemouth in the first half, but Bournemouth hit back with a try of their own to make it 5-5 at the break.

In the second half, Ellingham’s captain and scrum half Aaron Barker kicked two penalties and prop forward Darren Kendall scored a try to make it 16-16, but a last minute penalty allowed Bournemouth to steal a win and Ellingham had to be content with a losing bonus point.

Meanwhile, the thirds were thrashed 58-5 in Dorset Division 3.

Ellingham’s only try was scored in the second half by wing three quarter Leon Taylor.