Plymouth Albion took a try bonus from London on Saturday after falling to a 36-22 defeat to Richmond.
Richmond drew first blood early doors when Sean Kerr slotted home a penalty, and they fended off what was nearly a sublime Albion response. Sam Daly broke free down the left and fed Phil Jones, but some excellent last-ditch defending denied him.
Skipper Jack Oulton crept the visitors in front a few minutes later when he darted for the line, but it was not long before Richmond took the lead back again. Dan Collier was dubiously pinged for a high tackle, before the linesman hampered Phil Jones as he tried to intercept the kick into the corner. Alex Post eventually drove over, with Sean Kerr adding the extras.
Harry Wilkinson evened things up after some solid Albion pressure, driving over from a line-out in the corner and leaving us all square with 15 minutes to go of the first half.
The hosts found a response when Alex Post made his way over the line following a good break, leaving two points between us as we closed in on the break.
Richmond made a rapid start to the second half through Xavier Hastings, the Flanker driving over after some powerful pressure. Kerr added the extras to take the London side five in front.
Albion would maintain some sustained pressure on Richmond’s line for the following 10 minutes of the game, but Richmond held strong and extended their lead through another score by Hastings, with Kerr again converting.
Wilkinson nearly drove over for a second time at the other end, but Richmond did well to hold us up before breaking once more and finding a score through Will Kaye.
Angus Hodges pulled one back to grab a try bonus for Ryan Lamb’s side, but Richmond prevented any further score and took the 14-point victory.
Line-Ups:
Richmond:
Luke Spring, Alex Post ©, Ntinga Mpiko, Jake Monson, Max Murphy, Henry Wills, Xavier Hastings, Ethan Benson, Luc Jones, Ted Landray, Will Kaye, Tom Hitchcock, Sean Kerr, Hamish Graham, Alex O’Meara
Replacements: Connor Maguire, Jimmy Litchfield, Lucas Schmidt, Henry Cheeseman, Matt Marsh
Plymouth Albion:
Ramaz Rukhadze, Harry Wilkinson, Dan Pullinger, Angus Hodges, Dan Collier, Jake Bond, Torin Clarke, Sam Daly, Jack Oulton ©, Phil Jones, Craig Duncan, Connor Eastgate, Archie Hill, Robin Wedlake, Tom Putt
Replacements: Gabe Mead, Jenson Boughton, Jack Wickham, Morgan Stone, Seta Raumakita
