BOURNEMOUTH stalwart Alan Manning celebrated his 200th league start for the club with a try as Lions shocked second-placed Exmouth 10-0 at Chapel Gate yesterday.

Skipper Manning and Scott Chislett both hit the milestone in the National Three South West clash and helped their team keep Exmouth off the scoreboard for the first time this season.

Victory enabled Lions to move up to 10th in the standings and saw them inflict a third league defeat of the season on their Devon opponents.

And prop Manning was pleased to hit a personal landmark and notch an impressive victory in one fell swoop.

He told the Daily Echo: “To score was a nice way to cap a milestone.

“There are plenty more games to come and, hopefully, I’ll be saying the same when I get to 300.

“I’m still only 28 so I’ve got plenty of time. People are saying there are 10 years left in me but I’m not sure about that!

“Before the game everyone was confident we were going to win, which was a feeling we hadn’t had in a while.

“You couldn’t really fault anyone’s performance. Everyone did what they had to do and that was why it worked so well.

“After Christmas no one is 100 per cent fit and everyone's had a few too many drinks but we knew they would be in the same boat. We put in a good shift and the result spoke for itself.

“We’ve said for a while that we needed to hold a team to nil but we didn’t think it would be Exmouth, to be honest.

“I don’t think many teams, if any, are going to stop the team that is second in the league from scoring this season. It was quite an achievement.”

After the visitors’ fly-half George Meadow had missed an early penalty, Manning got Lions off and running in the 17th minute when he went over from close range.

Sammy Veneroso, making his first appearance for the first team this season, struck the conversion between the uprights.

The only other points came shortly after the break when, spurred on by a charge from Manning, Bournemouth earned a penalty and the visitors had been reduced temporarily to 14 men.

Veneroso kicked the penalty and Lions held on for a much-needed win.

Lions: Hancox, Sutherland, Yeats (Morgan), Chislett, Veneroso, Sanchez, Hardcastle, Firetto, Richardson (Terry), Manning, Scott, Warwick (Renwick), Hennings, Ashburner, Rees.