CHELMSFORD Rugby Club's Eddie Gooby was delighted his youngsters didn't let their heads drop after their Diss defeat as they impressed against Basildon.
Two weeks ago Gooby took an understrength team to title rivals Diss and they were turned over 57-0, but on Saturday they bounced back with a victory that sent them top of London Two North East.
The director of rugby dismissed the Diss game as a blip in their season and saw it as a learning curve for his younger players.
"The team was so young and we lost quite a lot of our leaders in the team that day and these youngsters probably grew up a little bit," said Gooby. "A few of them played again against Basildon and they played a lot better than the week before.
"They were more determined, more physical and they realised they weren't up to it the week before and this week they really improved to do a good job for the team. You take these sorts of things as you go along and you just carry on playing.
"It was just one of those circumstances where we had so many players missing and the opposition [Diss] were really hyped up for it, the whole place down there was buzzing, and our youngsters found it too much."
Gooby didn't want to dwell on the Diss game, as he was happy with how his team bounced back to go top, but he isn't getting carried away.
"We all looked at each other, took it on the chin and said let's move on. That was only our second loss of the season and somehow we're back on top of the league.
"The confidence in the boys led to them being able to bounce back this week against Basildon.
"It was a messy game but we never looked like losing, we controlled the game and we got the bonus point in the end and that's what we set out to do.
"I think everyone's realistic and we're enjoying being at the top but it was just a case of us regrouping and we've got to make a lot changes again this weekend with players not being available so we'll go down with the team and see what happens.
"We regrouped this weekend and got on with it to get the win and somehow we've gone back to the top.
"That's what the boys achieved so it ticked the box and we move on to concentrate on the next game."
