Rosslyn Park head coach Jan Bonney heralded his charges’ fighting spirit after a hard-fought 20-14 derby win over Esher.
The victory keeps Park one point clear of Ealing Trailfinders at the top of National League One, with a tough trip to Wharfedale this weekend.
A Luke Campbell try, a penalty try and 10 points off the boot of Sam Katz proved enough to see off Esher in front of a big crowd of Friday night.
Bonney said: “It was a tough game, but we were we pretty much in control. We didn’t play as well as we can, but everyone worked extremely hard. You cannot always win five points.”
Much to Bonney’s delight, Park are not repeating last season’s antics of going top of the table and then falling away.
“Complacency was an issue last year, but now we don’t have anyone thinking we have a right to beat anyone else. We have good strength in depth and it is a question of balancing the players’ hunger to play with those who will perform well.”
As if to prove the point, Park are still without top points scorer Ross Laidlaw, but replacement Katz has contributed 42 points in the past three games.
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