50/50 numbers have been claimed.
Plymouth Albion 64 – 17 Dings Crusaders
Plymouth Albion returned to Brickfields off the back of a disappointing away defeat to Rosslyn Park last week. The home side were eager to get back to winning ways, and Rhys Williams told club media that the team had “worked hard this week to hopefully make amends and do the crowd proud.”
The visitors were Dings Crusaders, who had seen a recent turnaround in form, beating Birmingham Moseley away from home before a narrow defeat to Blackheath last week.
First Half
Albion started strong from the kick-off, but it would be Dings who scored first through Max Rivers. Lewis O’Grady scored the conversion to send the visitors into an early 7-0 lead. Their advantage wouldn’t last, however, as Bobby Wigginton skipped free on the Albion left, and Frankie Dart’s kick levelled the scores.
Ten minutes later, Shea Cornish got his name on the scoresheet, and another conversion gave Albion the advantage on home soil for the first time in this game. A Dings try followed, but O’Grady couldn’t add the extras this time around, and Albion held on to a two-point lead approaching half-time.
There was still time before the break for front-row Harry Wilkinson to storm over the try line and give his team some breathing room between themselves and the Crusaders. It was a powerful run from the hooker, and he deserved his try after a physical first half.
The whistle came swiftly after that, and the home team went into the dressing room with a 19-12 lead.
Second Half
Dings came out fighting in the opening minutes of the second half. Sol Taufa scored just minutes after the restart with some sharp play out wide, but a missed conversion meant Albion still held the lead.
Then the floodgates opened, and Albion flexed their attacking muscles in some style. Tries from Dan Pullinger and skipper Jack Oulton came either side of Dart’s own, who also did the business from the tee for each. With the scores at 40-17 after fifteen minutes of the second period, a noisy home crowd started to enjoy themselves — and so did their team.
Substitute Oscar Beckerleg made an impact from the bench and got his team’s seventh try on the board before Angus Hodges and Harry Legg found space on the right flank to score from near-identical moves and take the game completely out of reach for Dings. It was ruthless and relentless from Albion, and they treated the largest Brickfields attendance of the season to some excellent attacking rugby.
Nuffield Health Player of the Match Ben Moa was withdrawn with full time approaching, before Shea Cornish bagged his second of the game in the closing minutes, making the score 64-17 on the final whistle. It was a stunning second-half display in which Plymouth Albion will have made a big statement to the rest of the division.
Post-Match
Head Coach Ryan Lamb credited Albion’s opponents after full time and praised his team’s second-half performance:
“Fair play to Dings first half, I think they made the contact area a bit of a fight and they scored some decent tries.
“I thought we reacted fantastically coming out after half-time, [we were] much more physical, got ourselves in some really good positions, played some really good rugby and scored ten tries at home, it’s obviously a positive.
“We’re ecstatic about that but we know we’ve got two more games left before the break with Tonbridge and Birmingham Moseley back here, so it just keeps on rolling.”
Up Next
Albion travel to Tonbridge Juddians next week, before a big home game against Birmingham Moseley under the lights at Brickfields on October 25th.
Tickets to the next home game are available at plymouthalbion.com. Don’t miss out on securing your spot for a Halloween special back home this month.
Joe Wilkinson
