Bournemouth coach Jon Sanchez said his side’s defence was the key to their 20-10 home win over Ivybridge.
The Chapel Gate men extended their advantage at the top of the table to 11 points thanks to tries from Grant Hancox and Mike Pope.
But it was the stuff away from the whitewash which won them the battle - with the visitors smashed backwards every time they tried to breach the gain line.
With such a tight title race shaping up already with third placed Barnstaple leapfrogging Ivybridge with a 39-7 win over Maidenhead, Sanchez made a case for his defence.
Sanchez said: “We worked tirelessly in the week saying ‘we are so good in defence and we must put in big shifts defensively.’
“But we just wanted to get the ball back quicker so we could influence the game with our attack.
“I thought our jackal in the tackle was on point today and I don’t think we got enough points from it.
“Our gainline defence was also excellent and that was testament to the boys - they just wouldn’t let it die - and that is their main thing.
“To defend on their five-metre line as they would on their own, and our shape in defence was continuous and on point all the time.
“The kicking game was good today too - we kicked at the right times and we trapped them in the right areas.
“They have got some very good players and we contained them.”
With Ivybridge beginning the day just seven points behind Will Croker’s men, it was important The Lions did not gift their opponents anything.
But by limiting Ivybridge to just 10 points in the entire match - and deny them even a losing bonus point, stretched their advantage over the chasing pack.
Sanchez added: “I am really pleased with the win, but the thing I am most pleased with is we denied them any league points whatsoever which is just testament to our defence - and it feels like a try bonus point in itself.
“We looked threatening whenever we were in attack but it just came down to those fine margins of the game of rugby.”