Bournemouth captain and number eight Joe Rees said their 47-17 bonus-point home win over tenth team Bracknell was a big step towards securing the South West Premier title.
The rampant Lions are just two games into the second half of their successful campaign so far following last Saturday’s 62-12 home win over Weston-super-Mare.
But with back-to-back bonus-point home successes kicking 2019 off with a big bang, the skipper said it has been the perfect start for them.
Rees said: “It is great for us to get another five points at home.
“It is just starting the second half of the season off in the best possible way - with two five-point bonus-point wins - after we beat Weston 62-12 last week - to make it ten points from two games - so it was a good win.”
The opening month of the new year could prove decisive in the title race with three homes games splintered by next week’s trip to fifth side Brixham - who lost 22-17 at second place title chasers Barnstaple.
But Rees admitted his side cannot wrap up the title in that time just yet - with plenty of hard work still left to do for him and his team-mates.
He added: “I don’t think this month will help see us do enough to seal the title but it will definitely help us make a statement of intent for us and make the other teams in the division sit up and think ‘woah here come Bournemouth.’
“So I think possibly we have just got to go at it until about mid-March time now until the title is secured but obviously this win over Bracknell is a massive stepping stone for us in the right direction.
"We probably made a bit of hard work for ourselves in the last 20 minutes but we stuck at it and got the points we needed in the end."