BOURNEMOUTH made it three wins in a row with a three-try victory over Newbury on Saturday.

The Lions headed to Berkshire with hopes of a second consecutive away win in Regional 2 South Central and triumphed 21-13 in a ‘strange’ game.

They were forced into a couple of last-minute changes ahead of the trip, with Ollie Byrne coming in to make his debut for the side after Sam Hardcastle was unavailable to play.

In Byrne’s place on the bench, Ben Meaden came in from the second side, following his return to the club.

Reflecting on the game, director of rugby Will Croker said: “[It was] a bit of a strange game in that we sort of always felt like we were in control.

“We certainly controlled territory.

(Image: Photo: Simon Carlton) “They have got some bright young talents who put us under pressure, scored a couple of good tries in the wide channel, where perhaps we defensively just got our structures a bit wrong.

“But our line out worked well, we were physical, we managed the way that we moved up the pitch very well and we were able to get in and score three good tries.”

Byrne crossed the whitewash for a debut score, while Maverick Goodchild and Ryan Morrell added the other two, with the latter set up by Byrne too in what was a very good first appearance.

“[We were] disappointed to not get the bonus point because I felt that we deserved it,” Croker said.

“Of course we'll always take a win away from home, it's difficult to do that and Newbury is always a difficult place to go, but we do need to start to just convert our dominance into points and perhaps that comes from a little bit more composure, a little bit more trust and just sticking to the process.”

With the victory over the Blues, Bournemouth move to fourth in the table on 19 points, behind Winchester in third, Farnham in second and unbeaten Tottonians at the top.

Bournemouth’s second team secured a resounding win over Bognor, 47-17.

On the Nomads’ game, Croker said: “[There were] standout performances throughout the backs, to be honest.

“The forwards created the platform, but then Josh Wickens, Sam Palmer, Josh Hayden all flourished and helped us get across the line, which sees our twos moving up into mid table and starting to build week on week.”

The third side were narrowly beaten by Oakmedians’ second team at home, in what is likely to be one of the hardest games for the Wanderers this season.

Croker said it was a hard-fought game that could have gone either way, with the final score ending at 23-21.