Head coach Marcus Cattell says Bishop’s Stortford still have work to do to secure National 1 survival despite beating relegation rivals Leicester Lions

Marcus Cattell says Bishop’s Stortford still have work to do to secure National 1 survival – starting with their return to action at sixth-placed Darlington Mowden Park on Saturday (April 6) – after beating one of their relegation rivals last time out.

The head coach saw his side claim a bonus-point 39-12 win over Leicester Lions at Silver Leys on March 23 as they leapfrogged their opponents into 11th place and pulled seven points clear of the drop zone.

Nick Hankin claimed two of the hosts’ five tries with Chris Smith, Francis Moore and captain James Ayrton getting the others.

They have three matches remaining - the last of which is away to second-from-bottom Cinderford - to preserve their place in English rugby’s third tier.

And Cattell was delighted to see the team respond in the best possible way to an 80-10 drubbing at table-topping Chinnor on March 16.

“It was absolutely a relegation 10-pointer as it were,” said Cattell, who handed Austin Pope his 50th first XV cap.

“We challenged ourselves to turn up with the right attitude and perform to the level we know we can and the boys did that.

“It was exactly what we needed after the Chinnor result when we felt we hadn’t done the shirt justice.

“The scoreline probably doesn’t reflect how tight and tough the game was. As much as we scored some amazing tries, we defended with real character and determination.

“We’ve put ourselves in a good position to finish the season in the right way. It has been a tough season, but hopefully we can keep the momentum going.”