Match Preview: Leeds Tykes vs Plymouth Albion
Saturday 6 September – The Sycamores, West Yorkshire
Plymouth Albion head north this weekend for their season opener, where they will be taking on newly promoted Leeds Tykes at The Sycamores, West Yorkshire.
Albion’s opponents enjoyed a fruitful 2024/25 campaign, managing to secure the top spot in the National League 2 North, losing only two games along the way and boasting an unbeaten home record at The Sycamores. Their top try scorers from last season included Adam Brown, with twenty-four tries, and Eliah Chitiyo, who added eleven tries for the Leeds side.
For Albion, it has been a productive and successful pre-season campaign leading into this first match. Preparation has been meticulous, and Head Coach Ryan Lamb has already spoken previously regarding the squad as being “…the fittest and most powerful we’ve looked coming out of a pre-season…”
As a result, expectations are high and the team is keen to hit the ground running, laying their intentions out over the opening games of this forthcoming season.
Looking ahead to this weekend’s clash, Albion should go into the fixture with plenty of confidence given their pre-season performances, but also the impressive way they finished last season. Despite last season’s slow start, Albion managed an impressive fourth-place finish, only three points behind third, and this season they have aspirations to improve on that and creep closer to the Championship.
Ryan Lamb has selected his team for the match, which includes five full debuts for Albion (not including pre-season).
Starting XV
- Jenson Boughton
- Harry Wilkinson
- Dan Pullinger
- Joel Broadhurst
- Freddie Stevenson (debut)
- Jake Clemson
- Jago Sheppard
- Ben Moa
- Jack Oulton
- Harry Legg
- Bobby Wigginton
- Archie Hill
- Oscar Stewart (debut)
- Shea Cornish
- Frankie Dart
Replacements
16. Gabe Mead
17. Morgan Stone
18. Liam Bishop (potential debut)
19. Iwan Jenkins (loan – Exeter Chiefs, potential debut)
20. Charlie Bell (loan – Exeter Chiefs, potential debut)
Coach Lamb was optimistic prior to the match, but understands his team cannot be complacent about their opposition. He noted:
“We know Leeds have a lot of National One pedigree and they’re always a very difficult team to play at home. It’s going to be a big challenge but one the guys are really excited for.”
Pablo Cheeks
