Plymouth Albion
Match report Albion .v. Nottingham
By Exile 626
March 2 2014
Nott a Night for Faint Hearts The last Friday in February was notable for several reasons. Not only was the match the last Friday match we’ll see at Brickfields this season (thankfully!), the inside of the supporters marquee seemed colder than the outside, it wasn’t raining, Louise Uncles made her final screech on the microphone.
And best of all Albion claimed their second home win this year.
There was a buzz around the ground that following last week's pitiful performance at Bristol "things could only get better" and having bested Nottingham twice already this season and been on the wrong end of some questionablr officiating in the reverse fixture confidence that a win was on the cards. The wind that had been fairly gusty during the day had died down and the pitck looked immaculate, no doubt due to the near constant watering nature has provided for the last few months. There was a decent sized crowd boosted by Stoke Damerel Communiyt College who had been given tickets by the club to celebrate one of their teachers being named " Teacher of the year" at the Herald Sports Personality Awards.
During the warms ups I spotted something that Brett Beukeboom, obviously overjoyed at the success of the Canadian Ice Hockey dominance at the Sochi Winter Olympics, was almost unrecognisable with no hair. I wonder a bet lost or just a change of style ?
Prior to the kick off the teams lined up for a one minutes silence for Peter Luffman, which was impeccably conducted by all those present. Albion showed their attacking intent straight fom the kick off but Nottingham playing in blue had the upper hand in the scrums, much as they had when we played them in the league, and with Matt Jarvis an ever present danger if penalties were conceded in our half (or just outside) seemed to be relying on the boot of the Fly Half to score the points or to kick and attack, when they did try and run the ball a resolute Albion defence held strong and prevented progress. Both packs did well driving mauls forward for gain, the linout's functioned well and provided quick ball. The Albion backs looked threatening all night and were unlucky on more than one occasion that the final pass was not accurate enough, or they lost their footing denying clear try scoring opportunities.
After falling 0-6 down we fought back to lead 9-6 at the break. Starting the second half with a man advantage due to some nefarious play from the Notts blind side, we used the width of the pitch to stretch the opposition before the ball ended up in the hands of winger extraordinaire Lloyd Fairbrother, if I had been watching on TV I would have sworn that they broadcast his run in slow mo, but he was stopped an inch short of the whitewash before Heath Stevens collected the rcycled ball to score the only try of the game. Rob Langley, who was quite rightly named Man of th Match, nearly scored a second towards the end of the match but the ball bounced just wrong and he knocked on with the try line just yards away, a little higher he would have caught it a little lower he would have kicked it through and touched the ball down!
Albion played the better rugby and were the deserved winners but need to become more clinical when they have the ball, too many players are stood still when they recieve a pass, as one of my old coaches kept telling us "Power and Pace", we have both but don't use them togetther very often. As Nomad said to me after the match "That was the closest comfortable win I've seen". James Owen, who always wears his heart on his sleeve, was having kittens and on th edge of being taken ill at the final whistle due to his frustration at how we played. Overall not a classic game of rugby, but a win is a win.
Good Points : Excellent defence, the lineout seemed improved.
Areas for improvement : The scrum still looks creaky, more prescision in attack.
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02/03/2014 09:43
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Agree on the condition of pitch with all the rain of late . Well done everyone for getting the playing surface to a great standard .
Nottingham's defence was very good and ours was as we have come to expect now with no try conceded .
Key players still missing ,it was a workmanlike performance ground out by a determined Nottingham to not let the scoreline get away from them .
A very good win .
Let's have a win at Bedford please ,to make up for the poor performance at home last year .
Plymouth Bred , Plymouth Born .
C'mon Albiiioooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
Quote:balion
Good report good to see you back 'sa'
Who or what is sa ?????????????
Plymouth Bred , Plymouth Born .
C'mon Albiiioooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
His name of course appears at the top of his post!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014:03:02:20:14:22 by balion.
Quote:balion
'sa' is of course 'stonehouse albion'
His name of course appears at the top of his post!
Exile 626 is the originator as stonehouse is AWOL ???????
Or it could be a senior moment ?????
Plymouth Bred , Plymouth Born .
C'mon Albiiioooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
Granted, it worked against us at Meadow lane when we lost 15-10 (truly the most awful match I've seen) but generally it might be useful to generate some activity in the opponents 22. (other than from a kick).
When they do, occasionally, use their backs they seem to be pretty handy.
Notts have a strong set piece and an excellent defence so one would have thought the backs have a sound platform from which to launch their attacks. But, it seems the first thought in their mind is to kick it as far as possible.
Whilst Albion can be fairly mercurial, at least there's boundless ambition on display.
Great report btw.
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