A tough fixture for Albion awaits this weekend at the Brickfields.
Despite Albion’s best efforts last week at Old Elthamians, they fell to a defeat in the last 15 mins of the game, finally losing out 40 points to 29. So, this weekend Albion are looking to return to winning ways against strong opponents, Darlington Mowden Park.
Commenting on last week’s defeat, Head Coach Kieran Hallett, said; “I thought it was a much-improved away performance compared to previous trips. Having played with the wind in the first half, a four-point lead at half time probably wasn’t enough, and we were also unhappy with some of the points conceded in that first period.”
Hallett added; “In the second half, we didn’t quite get our decision-making right when counter attacking and gave them easy field position from, which allowed them to take some easy points. But ultimately, our energy & application was much better than other away trips this season and we did well to collect a try bonus point.”
When asked whether the score line last weekend reflected the performance, Hallett said; “Not really, as up until 15 mins from the end, the score was sat at 30-29 and it was anyone’s game. I pressure moment like that and when you’re chasing the game, your decision making has to be spot on, but we made a few mistakes and ultimately lost the game in the last 6 mins.”
Moving on to this week’s game against Darlington, it promises to be a close affair. The two teams have spookily similar ‘performances’ over the season so far and only 5 points separates them, with DMP just ahead.
Kieran Hallett said; “At the beginning of the season there’s always talk about who will top the table and this year, Darlington and ourselves were in that mix, however as the league shows, it’s been a tight season for a lot of teams, especially if you look at position 3 down – a lot of games have finished within just one score.”
So, what is Hallett expecting this weekend?
“Darlington are obviously taking this game very seriously, they are flying down on Friday night, to ensure they are at their best when it comes to kick off on Saturday, but we are happy with our preparation and we’re ready to take the game to them.
Darlington are a tough side to beat when they’re on form, so we will need to make sure we are ‘on the money’ when it comes to game play and decision making this weekend.”
The Albion team is likely to remain pretty much static this weekend, but it is likely that there will be some late decisions on who’s in and who’s out, following a week of Development team games for both Plymouth Albion and some of their dual sign players at Exeter Chiefs.
The only two players that we have definite news on at present is, Connor Eastgate is likely to be out following picking up an MCL tweak in the game Old Elthamians and John Kelly is fit again, but final decisions will still need to be made regarding the starting line-up.
As it stands….
First XV:
James Kenny, Jamie Salter, Daniel Pullinger, Rusi Tuima, Daniel Swain, Paul Davis, George Mills, Herbie Stupple, Cam Setter, Connor Eastgate, Jack Arnott, Dean Squire, Josh Skelcey, Matt Shepherd.
Replacements:
Davy McGregor, Frank Kelly, Dan Powell, Will Norton, Sam Daly.
The game kicks off at the Brickfields this Saturday 9th March at 3pm.
