LIONS chief David Dunn watched Bournemouth propel themselves into the country’s rugby elite and then insisted their latest record-breaking romp had provided a psychological edge over title rivals Chinnor.

The Chapel Gate outfit warmed up for their National Three South West showdown in Ox-fordshire by demolishing Bridgwater 107-0 on Saturday.

James Flynn, the division’s leading try-scorer, equalled his own club best of three hat-tricks in a season by helping Lions run in 17 tries against their struggling visitors. Robbie Searle, who registered two tries and slotted 11 conversions, became Bournemouth’s top points-scorer in a match by racking up 32 in Lions’ 10th consecutive victory of the campaign.

While Chinnor also made it 10 out of 10 with a 23-18 win at Barnstaple, Dunn’s men soared to the summit of a league that compares the results of clubs throughout England. Lions are joint top of the Raptor League but boast the best points difference of the clubs listed – an astounding 532.

Dunn told the Daily Echo: “We have the best playing record in the whole country, so you can’t do any better than that.”

Reflecting on the win over Bridgwater with an eye on Saturday’s trip to Chinnor, Dunn added: “We decided last week that we would pick a full-strength team and that we would work on things that we knew would be important to us when it came to the Chinnor game.

“It wasn’t perfect preparation but I was pleased with the overall outcome. We would have liked a slightly tougher match – maybe a more physical game because it will be a big physical battle on Saturday. But Chinnor had a tough game at Barnstaple and didn’t get the bonus point down there. So, of the two teams, I would suggest that we will go into the game looking far more confident.”

Lions’ 107-0 triumph saw basement boys Bridgwater & Albion become the latest victims of the relentless Bournemouth promotion push.

No fewer than nine men got on the scoresheet as hat-trick hero Flynn was joined by double scorers Searle, Sam Hardcastle, Anthony Dunkerley, Gavin Hart, Jack Hennings and Dan Connolly, with Frazer Wilford and Ben Stewart also touching down.

Dunn added: “We scored 100 against Newbury earlier in the season and that was pretty straightforward, but Bridgwater were very competitive.

“The 100 points wasn’t on at all until the last 15 minutes when we stepped up.

“We had one eye on a massive game this weekend so we set ourselves some clear goals to achieve on Saturday. We were really pleased with the way we played and the scoreline was secondary to that. But because we played so well, the score just accumulated the way it did.”