WILL Croker watched Bournemouth maintain their winning start to the season at Bracknell and then insisted he had always been confident once they had their noses in front.

Lions retained top spot in South West Premier courtesy of a battling 13-3 victory, having built on a seven-point half-time advantage at a sodden Lily Hill Park.

The head coach told the Daily Echo: “Bracknell had lost to Barnstaple last time out and we knew they would want to set the record straight.

“We started well. In the first half, I would say we had 80 or 90 per cent territory, playing uphill.

“We perhaps showed a lack of patience in the strike zone and didn’t score the points we should have, which would probably have put the game to bed.

“When a team turns round at half-time feeling like they have got out of jail, they will often come back out and play really well.

“So we sort of cancelled each other out in the second half. There were quite a few unforced errors and times when the ball was kicked away when it didn’t need to be.

“It was nip and tuck but I always felt once we got in front that we would be able to stay there. I didn’t feel too panicked.

“We were keeping the ball well and trying to draw penalties and Grant Hancox was kicking well. I always felt we were fairly in control.”

On a heavy pitch, Bracknell took the lead after fewer than 10 minutes’ play, fly-half Vic Hardwicke kicking a fine goal after Lions had been penalised for an infringement in the scrum.

The situation was reversed soon after, however, with the hosts punished for their scrum work. Hancox’s kick sailed over from 35 metres out.

Lions took a 10-3 lead when Adam Davies’s deft grubber kick was chased down by wing Alex Everett-Bolter, who forced his way over for a converted try.

Hancox struck wide a penalty early in the second half but was given another chance when Bracknell were penalised in their efforts to stop number-eight Hamish Renwick.

And he made no mistake this time, his crisp strike of the ball completing the scoring.

Discussing Hancox’s season after his 100th start for the club, Croker added: “Grant is a bit of a phenomenon. He went past 50 points in three games and is the first Bournemouth player to do that, and he’s now through 800 points for the club.

“When he first started kicking a few years ago, it was so natural.

“Last season, his ratio was probably down a bit but part of that was because he was taking on kicks most wouldn’t, so there was a chance he was going to miss.

“This year he has gone back to kicking a rugby ball through posts. He has stopped thinking about the technical stuff and is just kicking it. He is a real threat for us.”

Lions: Stewart, Everett-Bolter, Hancox, Chislett, Higgins, A Davies, Hardcastle, M Davies, Manning, Tarrant, B Roberts, MacDonald, Hennings, Bennett, Renwick. Replacements: Flett, Firetto, Kirkpatrick.