“After 25 minutes of the game, the buoyancy of the Preston supporters was understandable.

Not only did the scoreboard read 21-3 in their favour, but their supremacy, especially in the backs, was so complete that it was difficult not to imagine any prospect for the home side other than a torrid afternoon of chasing shadows and charging conversions down.

As the same Preston spectators trailed discon-solately away from Mint Bridge an hour later, regretting the rash remarks they had made to the home fans earlier, they simply could not believe what they had seen.

Those wearing black and amber scarves were scarcely able to credit it either.

In the 60 minutes of rugby that followed, the visitors were simply starved of the ball. It was a colossal effort all round, which began in the lineout.

With our own possession as predictable as a night out in Blackpool, we were able to consistently pressure the Preston throw.

This was never more important than the dying minutes of the first half, when, at a crucial stage of the game, the visitors - poised for a goal-line drive - lost two throws in rapid succession.

The driven maul is re-emerging as a powerful weapon in our armoury, bringing forward momentum from the lineout, and, for the second consecutive week, points to the scoreboard. At all levels of the game this is difficult to stop legally when it is done well.

As the Cumbrian climate threatens to temper ambitions to play a looser game, the importance of this dimension should grow. There is no doubt that it is appreciated as a thing of beauty at Mint Bridge.

Dan Stephens continues to grow into the crucial role at fly-half. I thought that Saturday was his most complete display to date, bringing a variety of runners into the game in areas where they could be effective, establishing width in the attack and changing the direction of play in masterly fashion.

The pass that put Paul Dodds into space for the final try was a thing of beauty at any ground in the world.

We are now a third of the way through the season. With five of eight league games decided by three points or less, there has been no shortage of excitement.

There is even the "what if" factor, of where we might have been had we secured those very achievable victories over Halifax and Macclesfield.

However, we should not lose sight of what has been achieved so far. After two weeks of the season, having conceded an aggregate of over 100 points at Darlington MP and Liverpool SH, Ladbrokes would have quoted long odds against our being higher in the league than both of those teams only seven games later.