Plymouth Albion extended their winning run to nine games with a massive win away at Reading on Saturday, giving them a great foundation for their toughest month yet, where they face all four of the teams above them in the league.
Reading Rams 33-47 Plymouth Albion.
The win sees Plymouth Albion now sitting in joint third alongside Reading and Rosslyn Park, with all three sides at on 71 points, with only Richmond and Rotherham sit above them in the table.
Plymouth Albion got off to a good start in bright conditions in Berkshire, with some pressure seeing Tom Putt able to take advantage of two needless penalties conceded from the home side, giving Albion a 0-6 lead in the early minutes of the game.
The home side weren’t going to be kept quiet for long though, and after a disappointing 19-0 loss to Birmingham the week before, Rams were finally able to score their first points in almost 100 minutes.
Rams’ Axel Kalling-Smith saw him dancing along the touchline before he played a precise ball inside to Zach Clow who was able to dive over and get the home side on the scoresheet. The resulting conversion was missed and Albion held on to a one point lead.
The next 20 minutes was a yellow and blue procession as Albion turned the screw to push themselves 15 points into the lead. The first of those scores came shortly after Rams number 8, Ben Atkins, was sent to the bin for a high tackle.
Albion took advantage of the extra man when Harry Wilkinson powered over from a rolling maul to add to his tally since his return from a stint in Australia. Tom Putt added the extras to give Albion a 13-5 lead.
The first Albion try was shortly followed by a second when some incredible pace of ball saw Angus Hodges break through the Rams line and up towards the try line before he was felled, but he was able to release the ball to the oncoming Jago Sheppard, who slid in under the posts to extend Albion’s lead to 13.
The score was quickly extended when Putt slotted home his 10th point of the first half to catapult Albion into what looked like an unassailable 15 point lead.
Rams refused to back down, and when a loose pass near Albion’s 22 fell to Kalling-Smith, he pounced on the opportunity, powering through two defenders to score. A successful conversion reduced the deficit to eight points.
Frustratingly for Plymouth, the home side were in again just before half time when a marauding run from Kyle McGhie saw him offload to Solodrau Radianirova who was able to sprint over the try line and cut Albion’s 15 point lead to just one at the break.
Whatever was said in the Albion dressing room at half time was certainly heeded by the players as they returned to the pitch for the second half. The visitors notched two tries in rapid succession at the start of the second 40. The first came from Jake Bond after another powerful maul from the Albion Lineout.
The second try was the pick of the bunch, with captain Jack Oulton picking the ball up at the edge of his own 22. He was forced out wide to touchline, and looked as if he was going to be forced into touch, but after latching onto a cute dink down the line off his own boot, the Albion number nine pulled off an unbelievable dummy before releasing Angus Hodges with a beautiful reverse pass to run the ball in from 30 metres out to restore the away side’s 15 point lead.
Rams, were back on the scoresheet again when Kalling-Smith went over for his second try of the afternoon to cut the lead to eight, but the slot machine was in full working order, and after successfully burying his third penalty of the afternoon, Tom Putt was on hand again to convert Albion’s fifth try of the match, with skipper Jack Oulton involved once more, picking the ball up at the back of a maul and looking to go over himself, before playing another outrageous reverse pass to Shea Cornish who crashed through the Rams defensive line to propel Plymouth into a 44-26 lead.
The final 10 minutes of the game saw a fourth Tom Putt penalty converted, giving the Albion number 15 22 points for the day. Rams were able to grab a consolation try at the end through Max Hayman but Albion were able to see out the remainder of the game and ran out with an impressive 33-47 win away from home.
Head Coach Ryan Lamb had this to say:
“It was a really important game for us to keep momentum going from previous weeks. The lads were fantastic and to get a result like that away from home against a side like Rams is testament to the shift the players put in. Forwards set a brilliant platform again which kept us in control, couldn’t be more prouder of the group”
Jack Oulton came away with the Nuffield Health Player of the match.
Albion’s next three games are against the three sides above them in the table, starting with a home game against Rotherham, before two away trips to London to face Richmond and Rosslyn Park, in what is a massive month for the top four in National League One.
