HEAD coach Will Croker lauded Bournemouth’s professionalism in ruthlessly putting to the sword struggling Chippenham 61-7.

Treacherous conditions at Chapel Gate saw the National Three South West clash shifted to the third team’s pitch but Lions still made light work of their rock-bottom opponents.

Joe Tarrant, Scott Chislett and a brace for early replacement Dave McDonald quickly put Bournemouth on the path to victory with Sam Hardcastle adding a fifth before the interval.

Hardcastle scored two more after the restart to mark his seventh hat-trick for the club, efforts that sandwiched Chippenham’s solitary effort of the afternoon.

Tarrant’s second followed with Joe Gwyther rounding off the scoring, while Sam Veneroso kicked eight out of nine conversions.

But the whopping scoreline was not the biggest cause for joy according to Croker who praised his players for avoiding any outlandish practices having sewn up the points early on.

Croker told the Daily Echo: “It was a fantastic win. We knew if got our noses in front early that we could break Chippenham with the run they have been on.

“We set ourselves the target of playing the conditions and trying to get the bonus point by half-time and we achieved that.

“If you look at almost every match this season, we have not been thumped by anybody, we have picked up a lot of losing bonus points but then struggled with the try-scoring bonuses so it was really important to push on.

“I have said many times we have one of the best teams in this league but we need to prove that, to ourselves as much as anyone.

“It is all well and good me talking it up and the boys shrugging it off but one of the most pleasing things was how we displayed an ability to keep our focus, despite it becoming apparent very quickly that we would win.

“In circumstances like that, it can be a bit like playing sevens rugby. You can deviate from your game plan and try to do things you shouldn’t but we got to half-time, regrouped and went back to our structure.

“As much as making it fast and loose and winning that way is lovely, that’s not the way we are going to play next Saturday. It was vital to not only win, but to win in such a disciplined way.”

Meanwhile, Croker reserved special praise for the returning McDonald, who shrugged off his recent injury woes to score a morale-boosting double for Lions.

“Dave got thrown in really early after an injury to John Peart and was absolutely sensational. He was the best forward on the pitch,” added Croker.

“He has been a bit of a yo-yo player in the past but came back this season and really applied himself to get a first-team shirt.

“Perhaps he has lacked confidence and not always believed he belonged at this level but really came of age against Chippenham.”

Lions: Veneroso, Everett-Bolter, Chandler, Chislett, Sutherland, Gwyther, Hardcastle, Tarrant, Fraser, Firetto, Soden, Peart, Hennings, Allman, Rees. Substitutes: Kochanowski, McDonald, Snell.