Unbeaten Tottonians came to Test Park on the back of a rout that saw them pile 110 points on Portsmouth last week and the joint league leaders were confident they would also run through Southampton. But the home side had other ideas and from the first scrum showed Totts they were in for a tough afternoon.

Southampton had the best of the opening minutes, but Totts had a formidable kicker and when Saints conceded a penalty in kickable range, he lined up for his first shot at goal. He missed the target, but following the 22 restart the Saints defence was disorganised and left a gap which Totts attacked through, running in for the first try. The fly half made no mistake with the conversion giving Totts a 0 - 7 lead.

Southampton continued to attack and a series of high tackles from Totts gave them back to back penalties. After the third high tackle in quick succession, the ref lost patience and reached for a yellow card. Southampton were unable to make the man advantage count but, shortly after being returned to a full fifteen, another high tackle from Totts brought about their second yellow of the game. A neat penalty move from Southampton opened a gap in the Totts defence for Captain Jordan Dashwood but he still had plenty to do to power his way over the line. The conversion hit the post, making the score 5 - 7.

Marcus Coffin came close to scoring, but was judged to have knocked on over the line before Totts hit back with another penalty. Saints responded with their second try through Mike Wisnieki to level the scores at 10 - 10 and as the halftime whistle approached, Totts took a chance for a penalty from just inside their own half. The kick was good and gave the visitors a narrow 10 - 13 lead at the break.

The second half saw Totts extend their lead to 10 - 19 with two further penalties but the Saints players' heads did not drop. They hit back after Aaron Owen brilliantly claimed the ball from Saints' restart, Lachlan Fasher took over and made a great break before finding Jordan Dashwood in support. He finished off under the posts and Robbie Ashby converted, narrowing the scoreline to 17 - 19.

From the restart Saints then scored again. The kick off was gathered safely and recycled and Tommy Ashby found a gap in the defence and ran in from halfway, giving Southampton a 22 - 19 lead with only five minutes remaining. But with such a good kicker on the pitch for Totts, any mistake could prove costly - and so it proved to be, as Southampton conceded a penalty and were duly punished. The scores were level at 22 - 22 as the ref blew for full time.

After the disappointment of last week this was a marked improvement from Southampton, who outscored Tottonians by four tries to one and came away with a bonus point. Tottonians had to settle for the consolation that they remain undefeated, although Andover and Aldershot & Fleet will now open a lead at the top the table.

Some excellent individual performances from the Southampton lads, notably Jordan Dashwood - who declined the Man of the Match award in favour of Gus Nye, who made some big tackles and won a crucial turnover at the end of the game as Totts pressed for a winning score. Mike Wisnieki stood out against his old side - and even landed a very manly slap on a former team mate after a minor disagreement. Chris Alston reached into his bag of tricks and pulled out a bizarre kick to himself which went barely a metre above his head, while Steve Munter played on the wing, jumped and lifted in the line out and packed down in the scrum. Had he also thrown in a line out and attempted a kick at goal, he could have shouted 'Bingo!'