DOMINIC Pitt's try double proved in vain as Ellingham & Ringwood suffered a 22-15 defeat at the hands of Hampshire One rivals Fareham Heathens.

The Es made a flying start at Cams Alders and took a seven-point lead thanks to Pitt's superb touchdown under the posts, which was converted by Josh Butcher.

Scrum-half Butcher extended their lead to 10 points with a long-range penalty before the Fareham scrum began to assert, putting Ellingham’s young forwards under pressure.

The hosts exploited this to score two push-over tries as the teams reached the break level at 10-10.

Ellingham flew out of the blocks in the second half and, after a great handling move, wing three-quarter Chris Frost made a superb break.

And although he was tackled just short of the line, full-back Pitt was on hand to score his second try.

Fareham again came back strongly and replied with another try in the corner.

It looked as if the game was heading for a draw, only for a loss of concentration to allow the Heathens to score under the posts and kick the conversion.

Although Ellingham threw everything at Fareham in the closing stages, it was too little too late and they had to settle for a losing bonus point.