AMERSHAM & Chiltern RFC got nothing tangible out of a trip to leaders Lydney last weekend, but that’s not to say they got nothing out of a 38-10 defeat.

Director of rugby Craig Burgess had pinned his hopes on a bonus point.

But after going 21-0 down inside 15 minutes they will take heart from avoiding the sort of humiliation that could have cast a shadow over the rest of their season.

Burgess said: “We didn’t make it easy on ourselves. Those three really quick scores took the wind out of our sails and it didn’t bode well for the rest of the game.

“Your heart is in your mouth a little bit and you’re thinking, ‘oh my god, what’s going to stop this?’

“But the guys really showed heart and character and there are a lot of positives to take from it.”

But while Burgess is pleased with his team’s response to that early shock to the system, he admits another away defeat puts their travel sickness into sharp focus.

He said: “It wasn’t the furthest journey. Brixham a few weeks ago was four and half hours.

“But we’ve been playing in this league for a few years now and have to get used to it.

“Travelling is part and parcel of this division and we need to look at our away form while building on our home form.”

There were mitigating factors though. First choice ten Ross Bugden was ruled out with a neck injury while centres Matt Gilbert and Steve Scopes, who might have filled in, both failed fitness tests in the days before the game.

Full back Chris Jacks was also out, meaning Amersham took on the National League 3 South West leaders with a patched up side.

Burgess said: “We had a few last minute changes. Two players pulled out on Thursday and one more on Friday.

“On Thursday you want to be dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s but we were still scrabbling a bit to get a team together so we were a little bit disjointed.

“We had quite a few players playing out of position or thrown in at the deep end.”

Despite that, Amersham rallied from their early buffetting with a try from Rhys Keith and five points from the boot of Jack Kenyon to go in at half time 24-10 down.

The hosts ploughed through the mud in the second half to consolidate their win, but Amersham weren’t blown away and will host Old Patesians on Saturday with five points on their minds.

It’s the first of a three-game run against teams beneath them in the table.