WILL Croker watched Bournemouth secure a try-scoring bonus point against Lydney – before underlining the importance of repeating the attacking feat.

Lions rose to third in South West Premier thanks to a 31-20 victory at Chapel Gate, a game in which they banked a try-scoring bonus for just the second time in the 2017-18 campaign.

And jubilant boss Croker believes his team must continue to impress in the strike zone if they are to challenge at the top end of the table.

He told the Daily Echo: "The fundamentals are you need to win every game if you can and then bonus points come after. The league is going to tight at the end of the season and we know every point is going to be critical.

"We had slipped on try-scoring bonuses and it was proving a little bit frustrating that we weren't getting past the post.

"The good teams find a way to get across the whitewash four times, even in a performance where they aren't necessarily at their best. If you want to become serious contenders, that has to be considered almost a pre-requisite.

"It seemed like we had scored three tries in almost every game so I was delighted we were able to four against Lydney because it does set the tone.

"We have six games before Christmas and if we don't get a bonus point in any of them, we will effectively have tallied up another loss. We have to be aware of that and make sure we are ruthless and relentless when we get the opportunities."

Lions took an early lead against Lydney when fly-half Adam Davies outpaced the defence, with Grant Hancox adding the extras.

Sam Hardcastle darted under the posts soon after and Hancox's kick handed the hosts a 14-0 lead with 20 minutes gone.

Ollie Locke hit back with a penalty but wing Alex Everett-Bolter scored for the second straight game, giving Bournemouth a 19-3 half-time lead.

After the break, Lydney drove over with Alan Manning's first try of the season proving a good response, only for Tai Lakibuka's converted score to reduce the advantage.

Good work from Manning allowed Freddie Gleadowe to touch down, with Hancox converting. A Lydney try in the dying embers proved academic.

Croker added: "Lydney have a new coach in Jason Forster who took Dings Crusaders to a play-off last season and he has got them very well organised. They defended well.

"But we were on a high after our result against Exmouth. We never quite hit the heights of that but it was a really good performance in parts and I was really pleased with our discipline, defence and patience.

"We were quite keen to build phases which is a good sign of confidence rather than trying to rush to score.

"It was a good home win."

Lions: Hancox, Davis, Gleadowe, Chislett, Everett-Bolter, Davies, Hardcastle, Fraser, Wilford, Manning, Napier, MacDonald, Sharp, Bennett, Rees. Replacements: McDonald, Stevens, Sutherland.