Away duck - dead!

By A Nomad
October 18 2015

Blaydon is not a rich club financially, but they do own their own ground which, like Hull Ionians has three pitches and a splendid two storey club house. If you think Albion suffer from poor publicity in the local media, Blaydon in soccer-mad North East have no coverage whatsoever. They survive on the minimum of financial resources. It is a good old style rugby club with a real good ethos.

This was a should-win match with Albion facing the team currently in the basement of Nat 1.  However, Blaydon have performed well against good teams in recent weeks so their form was not as bad as it seemed. But Albion had played poorly against Esher last week and their last win on the road was in the season before last. A further factor was that thisfixture involved the longest journey in the calendar; could Albion shake off the epic trek and start the game firing on all cylinders? Just before kick-off, news reached the club house that Elliott Bale had experienced an injury during the warm-up and was replaced in the starting line-up.

The pitch is some distance from the club house, and open to the elements. Albion started playing from left to right with the grandstand on their left and a cross wind breeze blowing towards the stand.  Within a few minutes, Blaydon exposed Albion’s cover and created an overlap to score in the left hand corner and followed up with the conversion; Blaydon 7 - 0 PARFC.

So - another slow start with similar problems that were evident against Esher. But this time Albion soon got their act together and put Blaydon under pressure. A break by full debutant Billy Searle led to him scoring an excellent try which was converted by Tom Putt. (Who, with Blaydon’s Brett Connon had  a good game only missing one each with their place kicking.) So Albion were back on level pegging. As you would expect, the Albi chant rang out across the ground to celebrate the score (and all subsequent ones), with each of travellers taking turns with the lead!

Blaydon were put under severe under pressure on their goal line, but this came to nought after a crucial knock on. However, Albion continued to attack and an excellent break by Nile Dacres finished with a classy offload to Tom Bedford, lead to the second try which was again converted by young Putt; Blaydon 7 - 14 PARFC.

It was not long before the scores were level again. Albion conceded a penalty, Blaydon kicked to their left corner and from the resultant line-out there was a maul which enabled them to score and convert; Blaydon 14 - 14 PARFC.  As DoR Graham Dawe is quoted elsewhere, their mauls were very difficult to stop, as Blaydon demonstrated all afternoon.

Albion’s heads did not drop and they played some good attacking rugby. Their third try followed an error at a line-out by Blaydon deep in Albion’s half. Albion gained possession and an all-out attack followed which culminated in another excellent offload (this time by Herbie Stupple) to Dacres who touched down. Putt again added the extras; Blaydon 14 - 21 PARFC.

Albion were dominating possession and territory and came close to the scoring their fourth try only for the maul to be pulled down virtually on the hosts goal line. Exit the home scrum half to warm the naughty boy chair for ten minutes. The pressure continued and Albion became the last team in the league to gain a try bonus point when Billy Searle scored again; Blaydon 14 - 28 PARFC.

At this stage everything in Albion’s garden looked rosy and a decisive win was clearly on the cards.  Blaydon proved to be no push-overs. As the half ended, a penalty conceded by Albion resulted in a line-out on the five metre line and the home side scored again from a catch and maul; Blaydon 21 - 28 PARFC.

In the second half Albion again looked comfortable, but the odd error like a knock-on did prevent them increasing their lead. They did remove some anxiety by scoring a fifth try when a good run by Herbie ended with Ethan Ford scoring and Tom Putt once more converting; Blaydon 21 - 35 PARFC.  A nice lead was again established, but Blaydon refused to lie down. They came back with the ubiquitous catch and drive (following yet another penalty) to score their fourth try and gain a bonus point; Blaydon 28 - 35 Albion.

If things were becoming anxious on the touch line, the Albion players did not show it. Good possession with an attack into Blaydon’s half resulted in them conceding a penalty. There was no need to go for glory and kick to the corner; a bonus point was in the bag so skipper Jake Murphy opted for the place kick. It was simple for Tom to add the three points, again giving Albion a comfortable 10 point lead; Blaydon 28 - 38 PARFC.

Blaydon were awarded another penalty in the last few minutes of the match. They again opted for a catch and drive and from the resultant maul scored their fifth try. This time however the conversion kick was not successful and the referee blew ‘no side’ shortly afterwards.

So a narrow of victory, but Albion had a good all round game and were back to the form we have seen in earlier matches. Clearly not the finished article yet with issues over conceding penalties and defending five metre line-outs. But a confidence-building win which the players certainly enjoyed, although not the prospect of the 10 hour return coach journey.

If it started as a should-win game, by the close it was a ‘must win’ game as defeat would have really devastated the players’ confidence and lost any chance of having a real impact of Nat 1 this season. It is clear why the league has so many high scoring games like this; teams are full of part-timers, so squad training is limited. Thus, defences are not as well organised as those in the Championship.

After this result, we climb up to tenth place in the league with a chance of more progression when we meet Cinderford in our first ‘local derby’ of the season next week.  Remember, it is an early kick-off (14.00) so the first RWC semi-final can be viewed immediately after the game.

Blaydon RFC, with the tarmac for car boot sales and the main pitch (background).

Match Report: Blaydon 33 - 38 PARFC (Nat 1)

Discussion started by Unofficial Plymouth Albion (IP Logged), 18/10/2015 21:26

Unofficial Plymouth Albion
18/10/2015 21:26

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BALION PREDATOR
22/10/2015 12:43

A lovely read A Nomad . Great to get the away win and five points as well .

Great recovery from the Esher game , which shows character and spirit within this group of players.

You guys stood up and performed , very well done .

Plymouth Bred , Plymouth Born .

C'mon Albiiioooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.

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