By A Nomad
November 15 2015

Our run of three bonus point victories came to an end in dreadful weather at the Brickfields. Albion appeared to have lost the toss because they kicked­ off. DMP opted to play into the heavy drizzle being driven diagonally across the pitch by very strong winds; a good decision which eventually told in the second half. The conditions were very tiring for both sets of players. DMP were able to take advantage of the wind and kick the ball deep into Albion’s half as the second half neared its conclusion. This pressure enabled them to re­take the lead and eventually deny Albion a losing bonus point. In fact, the lead changed hands on four occasions. It was a match that Albion had to have scored more points in the first half. There is an old adage, ‘Don’t let the referee decide the match’ - many supporters believed he did just that because we failed to create a sufficient lead early on.

The crowd was just over 1 000, but no doubt would have been higher had the weather been more benign. A period of silence in memory of the victims of the terrorist atrocities in Paris was observed just prior to kick­off. The driving rain caused the club to announce at half time that spectators could take refuge in either stand if they wished. With the wind advantage, Albion needed to go in at the turnaround with a good lead. Although they started well with a converted try in the first few minutes, they were unable to keep the score­board ticking over. They had dominance at both line­-outs and scrums, but in the end the high penalty count cost them the game.

This is a young and in­experienced team still on a steep learning curve, and there will be occasions when it faces set­backs. Winning match after match is great for self confidence, but lessons are more likely to be learned when matches like this one are lost. Hopefully the experience will enable the team how to use weather conditions to better advantage. They frequently tried to run the ball, but on a number of occasions knocked on or lost possession. It was not all bad; some of the tactical kicking was good, particularly in the first half when long kicks deep into DMP 22 resulted in good field position.

Following Nile Dacres' early try, Albion failed to score again despite the advantages outlined above. DMP had a successful penalty kick to narrow the gap and then a break away saw two players running down Albion’s right wing. With only one defender to beat there was a pass back inside (that looked forward), but the receiver, Jake Henry, was permitted to run on to score in the corner. The conversion was unsuccessful and that was the scoring over for the first half; Albion 7 - 8 DMP. In its final minutes, Albion exerted pressure on the DMP line which ended in a bizarre fashion. Darlington had a player sin binned, but the referee awarded a penalty to them. It was not clear why this was so. It can only be assumed that he reversed his original decision because of an Albion infringement, but no one saw him signal that the penalty had been reversed.

The second half saw Albion restore their lead following a line out deep in the DMP 22 on their right which the visitors won. But with Marc Koteczky putting pressure on their defence, the ball was passed directly to him and it was a simple a run in and easy conversion; PARFC 12 - 8 DMP. However, Darlington soon regained the lead following a penalty. The consequent line out enabled them to score a try which was duly converted; Albion 12 - 15 DMP. Shortly afterwards, Albion were themselves awarded a penalty which Tom Putt kicked to level the scores.

More pressure on Albion after a further penalty saw DMP mount a drive for the line that looked unstoppable. But the referee blew his whistle before they crossed and awarded a penalty try. Rather than decide that was sufficient punishment, he yellow carded Tom Bedford for collapsing the maul! Albion 15 - 22 DMP.

Not long afterwards, yet another penalty cost us the losing bonus point. Just to add to our misery, Rupert Freestone was yellow carded - presumably for Albion having made repeated infringements at the scrum. Final score: Albion 15 - 25 DMP.

This was a game that could have been won, but it will add to the team’s experience and make them that much wiser in the future. Let's just hope for a dry day at Blackheath next week.

Match Report: PARFC 15 - 25 Darlington Mowden Park (Nat 1)

Discussion started by Unofficial Plymouth Albion (IP Logged), 16/11/2015 06:40

Unofficial Plymouth Albion
16/11/2015 06:40

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ianbol
16/11/2015 07:27

Nice one, Nomad.

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