Veteran Sam Hardcastle celebrated his 20-year anniversary with Bournemouth in style with a try in their 30-24 South West Premier win at Ivybridge.
The experienced scrum-half poached over the line at the end of the first half after lock Ben Roberts had punched a big hole in the defence with his carry.
After helping The Lions to their 22nd win in 23 games to breach the 100-point barrier for the campaign, he still remembers his first game fondly.
He said: “I remember my first game for the club like it was yesterday - even though it was 20 years ago.
“We played Swanage and Wareham and I was only 17 at the time and I played under a false name at the time because I was so young - but I cannot remember what that name was unfortunately.
“I think we scored the first few points of the game and I thought it was gong to be an easy game but then literally after that moment they completely destroyed us and in the end we lost quite heavily.”
It was a true baptism of fire for Hardcastle with County rivals Swanage going on to get promoted that season and Bournemouth being relegated.
Relegation - and conversely promotion - are just two things the wily playmaker has witnessed in his two decades at the club.
But he says playing with so many talented players - including at one point coach Jon Sanchez - has kept him on his toes.
He added: “It is a club I love and I have played here since I was in the under-11s' team and I actually played with Jon Sanchez - the head coach - but back then we were the scrum-half and fly-half together for a good few years and then we went up into the first team together.
“I have played with so many good nines here like Mike Pope - and actually that fuels me to play better myself.
“I have never been one to do ‘work ons’ or anything like that with my game but when you have players like Mike Pope, Sammy Veneroso, and Grant Hancox and even Adam Davies who plays at ten, it sort of spurs you on to try and improve yourself.”
Experienced scrum-half Sam Hardcastle has seen it all in his two decades at Bournemouth Rugby Club.
The wily halfback stole over for his side’s third score at Ivybridge on Saturday in their 30-24 away-day win in Devon.
It was the Lions’ 11th road success out of 12 this season, with the only slip up coming at this week’s Chapel Gate opponents - Will Greenwood’s Maidenhead.
Hardcastle singled out away wins as pivotal to potential promotion pushes.
He said: “Away wins like this at places like Ivybridge are huge.
“They have just got a fantastic new 4G pitch and coming to places like these and getting the win - no matter how big or small - is always important.
“If you win the majority of your away games and focus on your home games then you are going to do well in the league so away games are hugely important.
“It is quite a turnaround for us considering where we have come from all those 20 years ago when I first started here at the club - in the deep and dark Dorset Leagues - and to now be going into National League Two South next season is pretty good.”
The table-topping Lions secured the title and promotion into the fourth tier of English rugby on March 9 following the required bonus-point win over Exmouth.
Hardcastle went up into the same division with the club back in 2012, and the experienced nine said the current squad have a lot of weapons to make a good go of it in their new division.
He added: “I got promoted in 2012 up into the same league we are now going into and it is amazing.
“I have got promotions and I have got relegations with the club and whenever you get promotions it is always good, so it is always enjoyable.
“This is quite a complete team, and we have quite a good bunch of forwards and we have got an exciting pack of backs so there is a really good balance between forwards and backs which is what a Championship-winning side needs.”