Bournemouth skipper Joe Rees said not playing well but winning is the mark of champions.
Legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson used to say the same thing - winning when not at your best can get you over the line.
Last Saturday’s come-from-behind 27-26 South West Premier home win over Camborne pushed The Lions 11 points clear of second placed Barnstaple, and Rees says it showed the character of his side.
The number eight said: “It is another win, but it was not our best performance and myself and the boys know that - but we dug out a win in pretty poor conditions not playing particularly well so we will take that.
“Some people might say that could be the mark of champions - not playing particularly well but still getting the win but we just seem to keep getting that victory.
“Especially last week at Brixham which was a massive one for us being away from home and being down on the scoreboard before coming back and getting the try at the end, so I cannot fault the boys because they stick at it right until the 80th minute.”
As Rees alluded to, the week prior to Saturday’s Camborne victory, Rees’ side did the same thing after fighting back from 15-3 down at half-time to win 20-18 at Devon stronghold Brixham.
The only negative Rees could find with Saturday’s 17th success in their opening 18 fixtures, was the lack of a four-try bonus - but that would be splitting hairs.
But the back rower was delighted to extend his team’s fantastic home record - which has not seen Bournemouth lose at Chapel Gate since October, 2017 to Dings Crusaders.
He added: “I don’t think the players think about when we last lost at home, I think it is just one of those things where we know it is our fortress and we try to keep it that way and try to stick at it but it is a hell of a statistic and again people are going to want that crown as well.
“We are massively disappointed to miss out on the four-try scoring bonus point because we want all the points we can get but I don’t think the boys will nit pick at it because a win is a win and the boys have been saying that for the last couple of weeks.”