ELLINGHAM & Ringwood Rugby Club now need just one point from their final four league games to clinch the Hampshire Division One title.

They inched closer to their goal with a 16-12 win against closest rivals East Dorset on Saturday.

With Ellingham sitting top and East Dorset joint second, this promised to be a much closer game than the 53-3 thrashing Ellingham dealt out at Picket Post in October.

With eight minutes gone, Ellingham were applying most of the pressure and were rewarded with the opening try, Dawfydd Williams kicking the conversion to put the Es 0-7 up.

Both teams battled for every scrap of possession but neither could add to the score before the break.

On 47 minutes, East Dorset scored their first points when their winger broke free to score in the corner. The conversion was missed, helping the visitors retain a slim advantage.

With 20 minutes to go, Ellingham started to crank up the pressure as their pack began to take control and East Dorset conceded two penalties in five minutes, Williams slotting them both beautifully.

With eight minutes to go, Ellingham were guilty of several missed tackles as they let the East Dorset number eight run through to score under the posts.

The conversion was made tokeep the result on a knife edge Ellingham saw a pushover try ruled out before East Dorset finally gave away another penalty, which Williams gladly converted with seconds left on the clock.

Head coach Steve Anderson said after the game: "We knew East Dorset were going to give us a tough game, but we stuck in their and battled it out.

"We will now go back to training and prepare for our cup semi final against Sandown next Sunday at Picket Post."

4:13pm Wednesday 27th February 2008

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