Spy at Sandy Park - Lets restart the team
By Frank Stormont
December 19 2007
Albion travel up the A38 to NL1 rivals Exeter Chiefs. They will want to put behind them the performance that saw Esher move to just 2 plces below Albion. Will the rested players have the boost to come away with maximum points.
December 19 2007
Albion travel up the A38 to NL1 rivals Exeter Chiefs. They will want to put behind them the performance that saw Esher move to just 2 plces below Albion. Will the rested players have the boost to come away with maximum points.
This Weekend
v 
Chiefs v Albion
Saturday 22 December
K.O. 3 pm
With tickets selling only on the Chiefs website and a sell out now in place if you haven't got a ticket then don't travel.
Chiefs are now firmly in second place in the league and some 21 points ahead of Albion and have scored some 30 yes 30 more tries than us and not surprisingly, if you have been watching Albion play, Albion have more penalty kicks than Chiefs.
No team has scored more drop goals than Chiefs, 3, and they were all against Albion on the second week of the season. With Albion having the worst record of drop goals scored against them 6!
With Chiefs only losing twice so far this season, at home to Saints and away to Pirates, and Albion only picking up 9 wins in their 16 matches the form book will be indicating a healthy win to the hosts. But local derbies are difficult to predict and coming from a sickening defeat at home to Esher last week Albion will have something to prove. But they will need to work hard to pick up league points at Sandy Park.
Albion supporters will be waiting firstly to see the selection of the squad, possible out on Saturday, and then the way we decide to play the game. Will it be up the middle or throw it wide?
National League One Data
League Table | ||||||||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | dif | TF | TA | BP | Pnts | ||
| 1 | Saints | 15 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 640 | 198 | 442 | 91 | 21 | 11 | 71 |
| 2 | Chiefs | 16 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 511 | 231 | 280 | 67 | 25 | 9 | 65 |
| 3 | Pirates | 16 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 402 | 276 | 126 | 43 | 30 | 6 | 58 |
| 4 | Nott'ham | 16 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 429 | 302 | 127 | 61 | 34 | 14 | 58 |
| 5 | Knights | 16 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 414 | 289 | 125 | 51 | 34 | 8 | 56 |
| 6 | B Blues | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 396 | 312 | 84 | 45 | 32 | 7 | 47 |
| 7 | Albion | 16 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 332 | 250 | 82 | 37 | 28 | 8 | 44 |
| 8 | N Blues | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 301 | 388 | -87 | 36 | 46 | 7 | 31 |
| 9 | Esher | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 287 | 414 | -127 | 35 | 55 | 7 | 31 |
| 10 | Titans | 15 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 280 | 394 | -114 | 38 | 54 | 6 | 30 |
| 11 | Cov | 16 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 334 | 419 | -85 | 41 | 55 | 10 | 30 |
| 12 | Moseley | 16 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 280 | 436 | -156 | 33 | 58 | 4 | 26 |
| 13 | Tigers | 16 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 299 | 433 | -134 | 35 | 61 | 8 | 26 |
| 14 | Welsh | 16 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 267 | 439 | -172 | 33 | 53 | 5 | 25 |
| 15 | Bees | 15 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 247 | 393 | -146 | 29 | 50 | 7 | 15 |
| 16 | All Blacks | 15 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 245 | 490 | -245 | 29 | 68 | 4 | 12 |
This table shows the for and against for each team. eg Tries 74/17 is 74 tries scored and 17 conceded. Con Rate is the percentage tries converted.
Recent meetings
08 September 07
Plymouth Albion 19
Exeter 28
Attendance: = 5751
Albion played well but did not win the battle of the points with Chiefs piping us to the posts with 3 drop goals that were the difference between the two sides.
With Ross Laidlaw on form the kicks at goal were superb but the number of penalties given away war not good for either side.
The new stand was open and the ground looked fairly full but did not break the record gate of last season against Pirates.
Albion will have to make do with no league points from the match. The expectations must now be lower for the end of the season but the only way is up.
Albion travel to Birmingham next week and will be hopping they do not come away with the result they did last season.
Team: Emyr Lewis, Liam Gibson, Arran Cruickshanks, Brad Davies, Nic Sestaret, Ross Laidlaw, Nigel Cane, Tim Mathias, James Owen, Steve Barretto, Ben Gulliver, Tom Hayes, Chris Lowrie, Jannie Bornman, Adam Kettle Replacements: Richard Oxley(used), Ed Lewsey(used), Wihan Neethling(used), George Davis(used), Ross Allen, Colin Stewart, Kyle Marriott(used)
Scorers :- Tries James Owen Penalties 4x Ross Laidlaw Conversions Ross Laidlaw Sin Bin Steve Barretto
27 January 07
Plymouth Albion 13
Exeter 20
Attendance: = 5015
A match that did not see Albion start well although in the main there defence was good Exeter played better and both sides only made it across the line once.
Exeter had more penalties and in kickable positions allowed them to score 15 points with the boot.
Some important decisions went against us and the chances we had we should have made better use of.
Exeter made the best use of the day and have probably sealed the end of Albion's race to the top of the table.
Team: Nat Saumi, Jon Fabian, Regardt van Eyk, Keni Fisilau, Nic Sestaret, Ed Barnes, Ed Lewsey, Martin Rice, James Owen, Scott Zimmerman, Dan Smith, Tom Hayes, Federico Genoud, Danny Thomas, Chris Lowrie Replacements: Mike Lewis, Sila Va'Enuku(used), David Delaney, Tim Mathias(used), Richard Oxley(used), Nigel Cane(used), Brett Stroud
Scorers :- Tries James Owen Penalties 2x Regardt van Eyk Conversions Regardt van Eyk Sin Bin Danny Thomas
07 October 06
Exeter 18
Plymouth Albion 14
Attendance: = 5743
A good start by Albion was disappointingly turned around in the second half with Exeter coming back to take the victory away.
On a calm afternoon after the strong winds of the week Albion kicked off with the sun at their backs. They had the ball and territory advantage in the first half and took the advantage of the extra man after Exeter prop was sin binned to score two driving maul tries.
Exeter took the advantage with two quick tries at the beginning of the second half, which took them one point ahead. Despite several attempts by Albion to drive over the line Exeter managed to keep Albion out by hook or by crook.
Team: Wihan Neethling, Ed Lewsey, Regardt van Eyk, Arran Cruickshanks, Nic Sestaret, Ed Barnes, Nigel Cane, Martin Rice, Richard Oxley, Scott Zimmerman, Colin Stewart, Ben Gulliver, Brett Stroud, Danny Thomas, Tom Hayes Replacements: David Delaney, Nat Saumi(used), Jon Fabian(used), Tim Mathias(used), James Owen, Federico Genoud(used), Chris Lowrie
Scorers :- Tries Nic Sestaret Richard Oxley Conversions 2x Wihan Neethling
31 December 05
Exeter 0
Plymouth Albion 7
Attendance: = 3192
Team: Luke Arscott, Nic Sestaret, Regardt van Eyk, Keni Fisilau, Nat Saumi, Ed Barnes, Nigel Cane, Ryan Hopkins, Stewart Pearl, Scott Zimmerman, Nic Rouse, Brett Luxton, Martin Schusterman, Danny Thomas, Tom Hayes Replacements: Jon Fabian(used), Graham Dawe(used), Alister Livesey(used), Sam Leung Wai, Matias Albina, Chris Lowrie, Brett Stroud
Scorers :- Tries Nat Saumi Conversions Ed Barnes
03 September 05
Plymouth Albion 35
Exeter 13
Attendance: = 4873
Team: Jon Fabian, Nic Sestaret, Keni Fisilau, Luke Arscott, Tom Arscott, Ed Barnes, Matias Albina, Martin Rice, Stuart Friswell, Ryan Hopkins, Nic Rouse, Tom Hayes, Martin Schusterman, Danny Thomas, Alfie Tooala Replacements: Regardt van Eyk(used), Nick Defty(used), Brett Luxton(used), Chris Lowrie(used), Nigel Cane, Scott Zimmerman, Stewart Pearl
Scorers :- Tries Matias Albina 2x Nic Sestaret Tom Arscott Tom Hayes Drop Goals Ed Barnes Matias Albina Conversions 2x Jon Fabian
Exeter Chiefs
| pos | P | W | D | L | F | A | dif | TF | TA | BP | Pnts |
| 2 | 16 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 511 | 231 | 280 | 67 | 25 | 9 | 65 |
| Tries | Cons | Con Rate | Pens | Drop goals | Pen try | Yellow card | Red card |
| 66/25 | 49/14 | 74% | 23/25 | 3/1 | 1/0 | 7/13 | 0/1 |
| Gate 3618avg 5796max | Form home w w l w w w w w away w w w w w l w w | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best home game 62 - 10 Titans Best away game Esher 13 - 47 | Worst home game 11 - 25 Saints Worst away game Pirates 30 - 23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Most points in a match | Most tries in a match 4 Jason Luff Chiefs 53 - 5 Welsh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Recent results
| Coming Matches
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TRIES
| Kicking Points
Discipline | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NL1 Fixtures
| ||
| Coventry | v | Sedgley Tigers |
| Esher | v | Bedford Blues |
| Exeter Chiefs | v | Plymouth Albion |
| Launceston | v | Doncaster Knights |
| Newbury Blues | v | London Welsh |
| Northampton Saints | v | Cornish Pirates |
| Pertemp Bees | v | Moseley |
| ||
| Nottingham | v | Rotherham Titans |
Predictions
BetFred
NYA
RugbyRoundup
NYA
Rugby Times
NYA
Franks Prediction
This is a difficult to predict, I would like Albion to show your neighbours up the A38 how to play the game. But my head says that it will be the other way round. I will stick my hand up and say that Albion will come away with a narrow win.
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Don't forget to put your own predictions into the calculator LINK
Weather forecast
Current forecast is light showers max temp 10oC with light south-westerly winds
Officials for the day
ref; Dale Newitt,
t/j's, Adrian Hartwell & Alan Biggs;
assessor, Gary Welsh.
Dale has officiated at 9 matches this season and issued 5 yellow cards but 41 of the penalties he has awarded were converted into 3 points
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