Today’s Match report powered by Relationships Plymouth.
Plymouth Albion’s 11-game winning streak came to an end after recording their first loss of the season at home to promotion challengers Blackheath. Despite a tremendous fight back in the second half Albion fell just short, the visitors’ early lead proved insurmountable as they secured a 26-34 win.
1st half
Early discipline proved costly for Plymouth, as three consecutive penalties gifted Blackheath the field position to unleash their most lethal weapon: the driving maul. Billy Harding, who entered this fixture as the league’s top try scorer, with a staggering 37 tries to his name, wasted no time in adding to his tally. He steered the maul over the line to claim the afternoon’s opening score, with Sam Morley slotting the conversion to signal a dominant start for the visitors.
Albion squandered a multitude of opportunities level the score, as unforced errors at the lineout gifted the visitors both territory and possession. Blackheath’s second try followed shortly after. Plymouth managed to quell the driving maul, but a clever move found Blackheath’s full-back with enough space to place a grubber through for Thomas Hughes to dot down in the corner. The conversion went wide to leave the score 0-12 after 15 minutes.
On the 18-minute mark, Albion were awarded their first penalty of the afternoon and immediately sought to pressure to the visitors. Harry Wilkinson’s lineout found its jumper, sparking a maul that ate up the metres. A series of pick and go’s brought the home team within five metres of the line, before the momentum was halted when Albion were deemed to have committed a penalty at the ruck.
Blackheath silenced the 2,550 strong crowd at Brickfields by crossing over for their third. Jordan Burns ignited the move, peeling off from the base of the ruck and flicking a beauty of an “out the back” offload to a fast-moving prop who broke the gain line. A flurry offloads followed, before the ball found its way back into the arms of Burns who scampered over for the score. The scrumhalf converted his try.
Thirty minutes in the contest, Plymouth finally found their rhythm. A successful lineout was swiftly passed out wide to Noah Fenton, who danced passed his opposite man and over the gain line. Jack Oulton provided quick ball to a pod of forwards, who continued to make yards. One final bruising carry took three Blackheath defenders out and the ball was offloaded to Wilkinson. The hooker powered over for Albion’s first points of the match, with Iwan Jenkins’ conversion splitting the uprights to take the score to 7-19.
Lineout woes continued to plague Plymouth, as a promising attacking platform dissolved into a nightmare scenario. An overthrown lineout was hacked deep into Albion territory, eventually resulting in a penalty for the London side. While the initial maul was once again halted, persistent carries from the forward’s eventually paid off, as Joshua Smart burrowed over from close range.
Albion struck back almost immediately, earning a penalty off kick-off. Iwan Jenkins found touch, and Wilkinson’s lineout was pinpoint. The ball was spun wide to Ben Moa, who tore through flailing arms. Under intense pressure, Blackheath conceded a penalty, and Huw Taylor capitalised on some sleepy defence, his sharp-witted quick tap saw him dive over for Albion’s second. Jenkins’ conversion was again successful, with Blackheath taking a 14-24 lead into the half.
2nd half
Albion looked the stronger of the two after the break, picking up where they left off. The Brickfield’s faithful roared into life as they watched their side crash up to within two metres of the line, aware that a third try would bring Albion to within a single score of the lead. A miscommunication led to a crossing penalty against Plymouth, presenting Blackheath with a much-needed opportunity to clear this line. Another penalty moments later left the visitors with an attacking lineout. Harding made no mistake and once again barged over for his second of the game, and 39th of the campaign. Sam Morley converted to extend the lead to 17 points.
Plymouth once again swiftly responded, in a move that began with Jack Oulton breaking through the first line of defence. On the backfoot, Blackheath’s discipline faltered, resulting in a penalty to Albion, who followed with patient carries that creeped ever closer to the try line, before Oulton finished the move he initiated, darting over the line for Albion’s bonus point try.
Frustratingly, as Albion looked in a good position to complete their comeback, they were reduced to 14-men, with a yellow card was brandished to Liam Bishop for an infringement at the breakdown. Despite the numerical disadvantage, Plymouth maintained their territorial stranglehold on the latter stages of the contest, scoring a second in quick succession. Blackheath’s astray lineout was pounced on by an Albion player, before the ball was passed to Jenkins’ who launched a perfectly weighted miss pass out to Bobby Wigginton, who finished exceptionally in the corner.
Off the subsequent restart, Plymouth came agonisingly close to snatching the lead. The home side opted for a ‘route one’ approach, looking to run the ball back at the visitors from deep. The move began on the right wing, where Noah Fenton was able to make a half break, before the ball was swept across the width of the pitch to Bobby Wigginton. On the left, Wigginton looked certain to score, but desperate and clinical cover defence managed to halt his progress and eventually win a crucial penalty at the breakdown. The away side then managed to reassert themselves and take hold of the game, slotting a critical penalty late on to deny Albion a chance of victory, and a losing bonus point.
Post-match, Head Coach Ryan Lamb reflected on a frustrating afternoon at Brickfields, “Fair play to Blackheath, out-hussled us in most areas and were more clinical when they got into the 22 and we struggled to stop their maul.
Disappointing for us that we’ve lost our 100% record at home but it’s all still there for us. Challenge for us now is how the group reacts to a setback.”
Moving forward:
Plymouth Albion’s next match-up sees them host Rams RFC in a critical game on the 14th of March. Despite the loss, we remain 2nd in the table, 5 points off top spot with five fixtures to go. With this game being the annual St Luke’s Men’s Day Out, we highly recommended to book in advance to avoid disappointment on the day. You can do so here.
Will Porter.
50/50 1st – 53728
50/50 2nd – 52138
