LIONS chief David Dunn expressed his delight after his men had taken a huge step towards National Two South safety.

Bournemouth look set to retain their place in English rugby’s fourth tier following a 31-12 win at Canterbury on Saturday.

Dan Connolly, Gavin Hart, George Drake, Tommy Booth and Sam Hardcastle all scored tries as Lions gave their survival chances a major boost.

Relegation rivals Lydney, who beat Barking 31-14, remained three points adrift of Bournemouth, who have one game in hand.

Lydney must now claim a shock victory in their final match at high-flying Hartpury College to stand a chance of condemning Lions to the drop.

Director of rugby Dunn told the Daily Echo: “Realistically, we can’t see Lydney doing anything against Hartpury College, but we can’t rule that out at this stage. We have still got to play the games as if our lives depend on it.

“I said to the players before Saturday’s game that I thought we were a National League team and that I wanted them to go out and play like a National League team.”

Lions, who face Dings and Taunton in their final two fixtures of the season, can guarantee their place in the division with one more win.

Discussing the victory at Canterbury, Dunn added: “We knew that we had to win to keep the pressure off ourselves and I was delighted with the performance.

“They really hammered at our line in the second half and the defence was fantastic. We went down to 14 men when George Drake got put in the sin bin and, with 14 men, there was no way they were going to breach our line.”

Lions: Pollard, Robinson, Edwards, Stewart, Connolly, Drake, Hardcastle; Carrel (Spikings, 60), Wilford, Manning, Forrest, Peart (Hughes, 65), Hart, Vaughan-Edwards (Grace, 70), Booth. Unused subs: Firetto, Veneroso.