Plymouth Albion vs Sedgley Park Tigers: Match Report
Match report sponsored by Relationships Plymouth.
The ten-year anniversary of Dave Venables taking control of Plymouth Albion could not have gone any better for the boys at Brickfields.
Plymouth Albion welcomed Sedgley Park Tigers to Brickfields needing a victory to guarantee a play-off spot and a shot at promotion to the Rugby Championship. Their visitors came into the game sat second from bottom and off the back of a heavy defeat to Albion’s play-off rivals Blackheath last time out. It would be a similar experience for the away side on Saturday afternoon, as Ryan Lamb’s Albion dismantled their opponents with relative ease from the first minutes of the match, walking out 68–24 winners and securing a spot in the National League 1 play-offs.
First Half
The opening exchanges saw a couple of high kicks from both sides, but it didn’t take long for the hosts to open the scoring. A flying run from Iwan Jenkins opened up the Sedgley defence, and a couple of hand-offs found their way into the hands of winger Bobby Wigginton, who crossed to give his team an early lead. Jenkins added the extras, ever reliable off the tee despite contending with strong winds.
Just moments later, Albion had their second before the 10-minute mark. A line-out on the right flank descended into a battling maul, which ended with Rhys Williams forcing himself over the line at the bottom of a pile of bodies. Jenkins’ kick, the pick of the bunch from this game, sent his side into a 14–0 lead. This set the tone early on, and the hosts showed no signs of slowing down.
Having seen both Rotherham and Rosslyn Park score 80+ points earlier in the day, Plymouth looked to make their own statement and penned Sedgley in for long periods of the first half, with the Tigers forced to play off intercepts and fast breaks in order to keep any possession. In the 18th minute, Wigginton notched his second try of the day, following yet another excellent passage of play from Jenkins in the middle of the park. The Albion number 10 floated a kick over the shoulder of the Sedgley line, collecting it himself before shifting it wide, where it was unselfishly passed on to Wigginton.
Then the floodgates opened for Albion, and the scoreline threatened to get out of hand. As the Tigers attempted to ward off another wave of attack from their opponents, a wayward pass was intercepted and Ben Raivalitia stole through to score. This was followed by quickfire tries from skipper Jack Oulton and Jenkins, who got one of his own before converting himself around the half-hour mark.
It seemed like the hard work was done by this point, but a resurgence from Sedgley Park kept the hosts on their toes ahead of the break. Winger Rhys Henderson found some room on the right side and got his team’s first points of the contest, before they grabbed another on the stroke of half-time. After converting the first of the two, the players went in at half-time with the score at 40–12.
Second Half
Sedgley continued their pressure after the break, with a couple of big carries from prop Beltus Nonleh causing problems for the home defence, but Albion rode it out expertly before Raivalitia released Oulton, who grabbed his second of the game. Jenkins was accurate from the tee, and normal service was resumed for Albion.
Raivalitia was involved again when he collected the ball from Rhys Williams, who had made a powerful burst through the Tigers’ centre. The Albion 14 found Oscar Stewart this time, who crossed with ease to rack up his side’s eighth try of the afternoon.
Things went from bad to worse for Sedgley, who went a man down following an altercation at a ruck between hooker Adam Mallinson and Albion back row Huw Taylor. The referee brandished a red card to the Tigers’ number 2, and replacement Morgan Stone took advantage just moments later, scoring off the bench to wrap up the victory in style.
There was still drama to come, though, and Albion received a yellow card of their own to level up the numbers. Josh MacAndrew, another replacement for the home team, scored Plymouth’s 10th late on to make it 68–12 following yet another Jenkins conversion.
Every point is precious for a team in Sedgley Park’s position, so when Jack Ellam crossed following a line-out for the visitors, they were less concerned about the missed conversion but rushed to score another in order to take a bonus point from the game. They got their wish in the dying seconds, and the conversion was the final action of a hectic 80 minutes.
The whistle blew with the score at 68–24 to Albion, securing a play-off spot in front of a crowd of 2,405 at Brickfields.
Post-Match
Head coach Ryan Lamb spoke after the game:
“Really pleased with the guys’ energy and application, especially in the first 40 minutes. To put 68 points on Sedgley Park, who are a better team than their league position suggests, is a strong statement.”
Nuffield Health Man of the Match Iwan Jenkins said:
“We’ve still got two regular games of the season left. We’re going to fight for everything out there. We’re not just settling for a play-off spot. Hopefully other teams slip up and we can take that.”
Albion head to Sale FC next Saturday for a 14:30 kick-off, where they will be hoping for another big result, before returning to Brickfields on April 25 for final-day action against Leeds Tykes.
Joe Wilkinson
50/50 numbers have been claimed.
