BOURNEMOUTH 29 WESTCOMBE PARK 22
Bournemouth fought back from 14-10 down at half-time to win their first pre-season game ahead of the new South West Premier campaign.
After narrowly being pipped 31-26 by former Championship side Birmingham and Solihull two weeks ago, The Lions were determined to get this year's offering up and running.
However, they were soon on the back foot when the Park hooker tore through Bournemouth's 22, before offloading to his supporting number eight to score under the posts.
Park's fly-half easily converted for an early 7-0 lead after nine minutes.
That advantage was doubled on 28 minutes when the home side failed to deal with the bobbling ball in their 22 and Park took advantage with their kicker on target again for 14-0 - giving The Lions a mountain to climb.
But Bournemouth edged back into proceedings and registered their first points when kicker Grant Hancox split the posts with a successful penalty from inside the Park 22 five minutes before the break to get on the board.
Replacement and new signing Adam Higgins then cut a stunning line through the Park 22 three minutes later with the kick by skipper Hancox pulling to 14-10 at the break.
The hosts carried the momentum gained from the end of the first half into the second period when constant pressure brought a yellow card for the Park stand off.
The result was a straightforward kick for Hancox to pull to within a point.
But Park ended the resurgence with their third try on 51 minutes.
Good hands through the backs from the right wing to the outside centre then allowed the left wing to finish in the corner - despite a suspicious-looking forward pass.
The door was left wide open for a Bournemouth comeback when their kicker failed to add the conversion and it was well and truly game on for the last half an hour.
Full-back Karim Lynch celebrated his birthday in style by pouncing on the loose ball to score their third try just short of the hour but Hancox failed to improve it to trail 19-18.
The Park fly-half then nudged further in front with a penalty kick on 62 minutes to push 21-19 up
Hancox and the Park kicker then exchanged successful penalty kicks after the hour mark to leave the scores 24-22 to the hosts and Bournemouth leading for the first time.
With the Lancaster Bomber soaring through the skies above Chapel Gate, scrum-half Sam Hardcastle swooped over the line to snatch the all-important victory in the corner with a minute left.
BOURNEMOUTH: Karim Lynch; Grant Hancox, Freddie Gleadowe, Scott Chislett, AlexEverett-Bolter; Mike Pope, Sam Hardcastle; Tom Napier, Alan Manning, Joe Tarrant; Ben Roberts, Harry Leadbetter; Hamish Renwick, Ben Flett, Alexander Bennett. Replacements: Mike Davies, George Drake, Luca Firetto, PatFraser, Jack Hennings, Adam Higgins, Chris Jeffers.
