Albion 37 Cambridge 8

With Albion going into the half time break just 13 - 8  ahead and coming out with a larger degree of motivation in the second half they ran in a further 4 tries to make the end score creditable to the outside world.

Cambridge held Albion well in the 1st half but it seemed as though Albion were not playing to their full potential. The change in personnel on the pitch must have added fresh legs but to me it was the change in pace and attitude that allowed Albion to pull ahead of 2nd division Cambridge.

Playing Cambridge gave Albion the chance to test out a number of fringe and development players in a first team match and it was a shame that the match was not witnessed by more supporters. Whilst those that were there made plenty of noise a gate of 645 was very disappointing.

Harry Spencer, Daniel Hawkes and Ross Allen all got their debuts for the club and performed well under very difficult conditions. Daniel played well in the first half as fly half with an accurate long pass ability and a good kicking from the hand always seeming to find the right place either to touch or the space behind the Cambridge defence. He was not able to demonstrate his kicking for goal ability with the sticky, muddy conditions, that he had shown playing for Devon U20 the Sunday before.

Cambridge kicked off under a overcast sky but without the rain and strong winds that had been seen earlier in the week. Within 10 minutes Cambridge were in the lead with their second attempt at a catch and drive move. The referee seemed to wait until players were pealed off the ball before awarding Cambridge 5 points.

5 minutes later Albion drew level when Brett Stroud pealed off the back and fell on the ball after a driving maul went strongly across the visitors line from the 22 with 13 members of the Albion team involved.

Brett was involved at the other end when he was penalised for binding at the scrum and Cambridge took the opportunity to go back into the lead with a kick at goal. 5 - 8.

Nat Saumi tapped the ball over the heads of Cambridge just inside their half before collecting the ball and then passing out for Regardt van Eyk to score in the corner in the 26th minute of the match. 10 - 8.

Daniel Hawkes had to wait until the 35th minute to score his first points when he kicked a penalty from in front of the posts.

With no time added on for stoppages the two teams left the pitch for the turn around although Nat Saumi seemed to be carrying an injury.

At half time Albion had only just had the better half over Cambridge but we knew that we had some strong players on the bench. Albion changed their shirts and also replaced Nat with Ed Barnes coming in at fly half and Daniel Hawkes dropping back to full back.

Before 7 minutes of the half were up Chris Lowrie came on for Harry Spencer with Chris playing 8 and Tom Hayes moving up to second row. Also Arran Cruickshanks came on for Nigel Cane who played on the wing with Ed Lewsey reverting to his regular slot as scrum half.

Just 2 minutes later Albion had an opportunity for three point after Cambridge being off-side. With Daniel's kicking not being as good today Regardt took the kick but he was no luckier.

15 minutes in and the first score of the second half goes to Ed Barnes after taking the ball off the back of the maul and running 15 metres to score right of the posts.

Albion tried a catch and drive move 23 minutes in Albion were pushed back towards the 22 before pushing the maul to within 7 metres of the line. Ed Lewsey continually checking with the ref he finally took the ball before dodging a player and being tackled by another to fall over the line for his 4th try of the season.

Ross Allen coming on for Keni Fisilau almost made his debut try within 3 minutes but was stopped 5 metres short of the line. The ball was played back and a maul formed with Albion taking the ball over and for Nic Sestaret scoring his first try this season. The third player on kicking duty was Ed Barnes who slotted this conversion. 30 - 8.

With Abion increasing the size of the maul, by adding players, take the ball over on the left and James Owen was at the back ready to fall on the ball. Ed Barnes completes the match with a 100% kicking to bring the score to 37 - 8.

Albion will have to play like they did in the second 40 minutes for the full 80 to ensure that they make it any further in the competition.A great second half that was missed by over 2000 supporters that would normally have been at the match.

Team: Nat Saumi, Ed Lewsey, Regardt van Eyk, Keni Fisilau, Nic Sestaret, Daniel Hawkes, Nigel Cane, Martin Rice, Richard Oxley, Tim Mathias, Harry Spencer, Mike Lewis, Brett Stroud, Danny Thomas, Tom Hayes Replacements: Arran Cruickshanks(used), Ed Barnes(used), Ross Allen(used), Scott Zimmerman(used), James Owen(used), Ed King(used), Chris Lowrie(used)

Scorers :- Tries Brett Stroud, Ed Barnes, Ed Lewsey, James Owen, Nic Sestaret, Regardt van Eyk Penalties Daniel Hawkes Conversions 2x Ed Barnes

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