SEB Reynolds paid tribute to hat-trick hero Connor Hayhow after his much-changed Rams side produced a brilliant 28-16 bonus-point victory at Rotherham Titans.
The victory kept the visitors fourth in the National One table and took their record to seven wins from 10 games.
And Reynolds said: “I was very pleased for Connor. He has come to us this season and made a big commitment to what we do.
"He has worked very hard and thoroughly deserved his hat-trick."
He continued: “We had to do a lot of reorganising for this game and it’s a great tribute to the squad that players can come in or be moved around and still perform.
"Kieran Leicester made his National One debut and I am so pleased for him because he has been with the club for years.
"Andrew Humberstone has been fantastic standing-in for Alex (Seers) at fly-half. Alex is a class player and any side is going to miss him, but I think the way Louis (Ellis) and then Drew have filled-in over the last four weeks is incredible."
Things had not started well for Rams as the hosts went in front with a second-minute Sam Hollingsworth penalty, but they responded when Hayhow got his first try of the match on 13 minutes.
Having gone through the phases, a brilliant Jamie Guttridge off-load found Hayhow to cross the whitewash, Will Partington adding the extras.
Hollingsworth cut the deficit with another penalty, but a brilliant Rams counter-attack then ended with Conor Corrigan going over for a converted score.
A third Hollingsworth penalty reduced the gap to 14-9 at the interval, and Rotherham came out firing at the second half, only to run into some magnificent Rams defence.
And having repelled the assault, the visitors delivered a hammer blow in the 56th minute when Hayhow cut a beautiful line to go over for his second. Partington's conversion made it 21-9.
Titans launched another series of attacks, but with Tom Vooght once again outstanding, Rams sealed the bonus-point on 72 minutes.
Having forced a mistake at the Rotherham scrum, Jack Moates retrieved the ball and kicked long, the brilliant Hayhow showing the pace to collect the ball and complete his hat-trick. Partington landed a brilliant touchline conversion to extend the lead to 19 points.
It was Rotherham who had the last word, scoring a deserved try when Anthony Maka went over at the back of a rolling maul, Morgan Bunting adding the extras.
Next up for Rams is a home game against Old Elthamians on Saturday (2pm), and Reynolds said that is their sole focus rather than any higher in the table.
He concluded: "We’ve got a great coaching and strength and conditioning team and a fantastic squad of players.
"Of course we want to do well at this level, but we are also enjoying the journey because we are meeting lots of new clubs with brilliant support and facing new challenges each week.
"So we take things each game at a time and we will do that right through to the end of April."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here