HEAD coach Will Croker wants Bournemouth’s chastening defeat by Maidenhead to be their “trigger” for the rest of the season.

Lions were rocked by a 52-30 reverse at Braywick Park last time out, in what was their fourth defeat of the campaign in South West Premier.

They managed to cling on to third place in the table, however, with Brixham doing them a favour in beating second placed Newton Abbot 33-20.

With the in-form Astley Park outfit on Saturday set to visit Chapel Gate (2pm), Croker is keen to see his side refocus ahead of a crucial December period.

He told the Daily Echo: “We almost have to draw a line under last Saturday.

“When we get to the end of the season I want Maidenhead to have been the trigger for us picking up and moving on.

“You have to accept there will be times when you have a bad day at the office.

“We had one of those but what a good team does is they look at it, learn their lessons from it and move on.

“We are not a young squad. We are quite an experienced set-up with a number of guys who are in their thirties.

“The one thing I always ask of my teams is that we are difficult to beat. Up until last Saturday we had been.

“We have to make sure we get back to being a hard team to get one over and make sure we start to impose ourselves on the opposition.”

Visitors Brixham are eighth in the division but are one of the form teams having won five of their past six games.

And having upset one of the league’s high fliers in their most recent display, Croker is fully aware his troops are in for a tricky afternoon.

“These teams are not just going to roll over and let you beat them. You have to do your jobs,” Croker added.

“Brixham have always been a good team. They are going to be coming to us full of confidence.

“They had a tough start to the season but you always knew they were likely to come good.

“We know they will be coming with a talented bunch of boys.

“They always try hard up front and their kicker is very good – anything within 40 meters they back themselves to take at last three points from.

“We are going to have to be disciplined and make sure we keep the ball.”

After Lions host the Devon-based club, they travel to Newton Abbot on Saturday week.

Croker’s men then hit the road again with an away test at Bracknell, who they beat 23-20 earlier in the campaign, on Saturday, December 16.

Lions: (from) Hancox, Davis, Gleadowe, Chislett, Stewart, Davies, Veneroso, Napier, Manning, Firetto, MacDonald, Fraser, Treloar, Hennings, McDonald, Rees, Bennett, Kirkpatrick.