WILL Croker says Bournemouth’s hard-fought 17-3 victory at Lydney on Saturday sends out the message that his team will not be a soft touch on their travels this season.

The Lions lost their first two away matches of the campaign, and last term came out on the wrong side of a series of close contests.

But tries from Alex Everett-Bolter and Scott Chislett, supplemented by goal-kicker Grant Hancox’s seven points, saw Bournemouth surge to a maiden victory at Lydney’s Regentsholme ground.

To add to the feelgood factor around Bournemouth rugby, the Lions’ second XV returned from Gloucestershire off the back of a 38-17 success against Cinderford’s third XV.

“Those are the games we were losing last year,” Bournemouth head coach Croker told the Daily Echo. “And we had to buck that trend. It was 3-0 for almost an hour. They had some big physical players and 600-700 people backing them.

“It was noisy and what you’d expect going into deepest, darkest Gloucestershire. It was great that both our teams went to the West Country and came away with victories. It stops us being labelled flat-track bullies.”

Bournemouth fell behind after five minutes on Saturday and didn’t get themselves on the board until Everett-Bolter crossed with 15 minutes to play.

And Croker is convinced his side’s ability to maintain their belief and spirit under-pressure will serve them well as they strive for promotion from National Three South West. What's more, he is convinced those qualities will rub-off on the second XV players who shared the return journey to Gloucestershire with their first-team counterparts.

"Doing things like going away together, seeing how the first-team prepare, sharing a beer on the way home on the coach afterwards, it develops that squad spirit," said Croker.

“I’ve coined a phrase, 'don’t think no’. Don’t think you’re going to win, know you’re going to win. Don’t think you’re going to be the best player in your position on the pitch, know it.

"I think last year, when some of the guys stepped up from a lower level to play for us they perhaps didn’t feel they belonged. But it’s becoming apparent to them now that they do. The likes of Alex Everett-Bolter, who came to us from New Milton, now looks like a proper National League try scorer. He looks ready made to play at that level and higher.

“Of course, a lot of being successful is about skill-set and fitness. But so much is about having that dogged resilience and determination not to be beaten.”

Their triumph over Lydney lifted Bournemouth to fifth in the table. And with Cleve the visitors to Chapel Gate on Saturday, Croker would love his team to receive the type of parochial support he witnessed for his opponents at the weekend.

He said: “Rugby is their passion down there. Some of the language from some of the old women watching the game is hilarious.

“And that’s what we want to develop at Bournemouth. We want people to feel passionately about us. We play an exciting brand of rugby and we’d love more people to experience it and watch it. If we can get anything like the sort of passion they get in that part of the world then rugby in Bournemouth will take off.”