WIMBORNE captain Dave Huggins labelled the importance of their 22-14 home win over Oakmeadians as "massive".

The All Blacks twice pulled back deficits to triumph courtesy of tries from Bradley Gee, Huggins and Riad Lynch.

Stand-in fly half Gee slotted over two conversions, and a Geoff Moxham penalty completed Wimborne's scoring as they maintained their Southern Counties promotion hopes.

It means the Dorset club remain two points behind leaders Trowbridge, whom they visit in a crunch match on Saturday, with a game in hand.

Huggins, whose side trailed 7-3 and 14-10 before digging deep to tie up victory with his and Lynch's late tries, said: "It was a massive win for us.

"It has given us a lot of confidence because Oaks are a good side and our local rivals. A win like that is always a confidence booster and two more points in the league helps us out massively. I was very pleased with our performance and our defence. We came back from behind twice to show great heart."

Wimborne are fourth in the table, two points adrift of Trowbridge and Frome and level with North Dorset, all of whom have played one more game.

Huggins, whose side have won four games and lost only once, said: "It is very early days still, but promotion is our target.

"But we are not getting carried away with our good start.

"We will just take every game as it comes and see what team we will be able to put out each week bearing in mind that injuries will keep cropping up.

"We'll just keep plugging away and see where it takes us."

Huggins picked out front row Andy Unwin and Gee for special praise. The captain said: "Andy was very good again in only his second appearance for us.

"He was against some huge props, which Oaks always seem to line up with, and just dominated the scrums.

"Bradley was superb in his first game at fly half. He controlled it very well considering he is normally a full back."

Oaks captain Hayden Hokianga stressed they had no qualms with the result, despite Ed Baylis scoring a try with his first touch of the ball to give them an early lead following his move from Bournemouth.

Ryan Stephenson also touched down, with both tries converted by Hokianga.

The skipper said: "Wimborne stuck to their game plan for 80 minutes and we only played rugby for 50 or 60 minutes.

"Wimborne played well and took their chances. They created opportunities for themselves, fair play to them, and they won the game. We shut off for periods and showed a lot of immaturity and naivety. We had a lot of possession and territory but at the end of the day Wimborne deserved to win."

Wimborne: K Lynch, King, Huggins, Moxham, Chapman, Gee, Llewellyn, Hicks, Davey, Morgan, Jordan, Davies, R Lynch, Murphy, Unwin. Used subs: Atkins, O'Bryan, Roberts.

Oakmeadians: Osborne (Kurewaka 50), Collins, Parker, Tait, M Stephenson, Notobartolo, Baylis, Harman, Garrett, Riley (Blackburn 60), R Stephenson, Croker, Stradwick, Hokianga, Hennings. Unused sub: Parker.