HEAD coach Will Croker hailed Bournemouth ace Grant Hancox after he made the smooth transition to fly-half.

Normally deployed at full-back, the Lions star stepped up for his first start in the unfamiliar role during the 13-7 win at Camborne.

Hancox performed solidly in the absence of Adam Davies, who could face around two months out with a hamstring problem.

Croker told the Daily Echo: “Things are in our favour and what we have to do is learn from each game.

“Grant played his first game at fly-half and that was a learning curve for us because we didn’t know how he was going to play.

“As it turned out he played the game in a fashion you would expect him to. He didn’t try to emulate Adam or be anything different to what he was.

“We are blessed to have other guys in the squad who can do the job but, at the moment, Grant has done everything right.”

Hancox is set to retain the number 10 shirt when Cleve visit Chapel Gate on Saturday (2pm).

Croker added: “Some time before Christmas we actually tightened up a lot of our backs’ moves because we felt we would be more threatening.

“We have what we call bodies in motion. Whenever the ball carrier has the ball, he has three or four options to pick.

“That suits Grant because he is inexperienced at the position. If he just has the one option to hit it’s a case of putting pressure on him to make that play.

“But with the way Jon Sanchez has structured things he has multiple options – that helps him out. It means he can relax into the role.

“He is a big part of what we do and we want him to feel comfortable. Right now he is really enjoying it, we will persevere with it for now and see how he goes again.”

Victory last time out saw Lions move to second in South West Premier, 11 points behind leaders Dings Crusaders.

Croker is looking for revenge over Cleve after they overcame Bournemouth 28-25 back in September.

“If we are serious about getting promoted, these are the games we really need to win,” he added.

“We are full of confidence that we can take what they throw at us.

“We should have beaten them at their place but didn’t. We feel we owe them one and know we can beat them.

“We turned down the opportunity to kick the points in front of the posts with the last play of the game at Cleve to go in search of the win.

“Deep down, we had enough to beat them and we know we didn’t perform.

“They always have a big strong pack and scrummage well. They have a very good lock who is a big lump and a bit of a talisman for them.”