Match Report Friday evening Albion .v. London Scottish
By BALION PREDATOR
October 7 2013
(Sorry for the delay folks, I missed this report which was posted on Saturday, noibla.) On a nice warm evening at Brickfields the atmosphere was building up to a much awaited game against London Scottish who have been fancied as a top six team this season from various quarters . The two teams have played each other six times with Albion winning five of those encounters to date , a we are all fully aware past games, be it a win or defeat , count for very little as the match playing seasons change as do teams change and the people involved with the set ups .
London Scottish have recently lost their head coach Simon Amour to the RFU 7's circuit but swiftly replaced him with Mike Friday (backs) while Buckland heads the forwards assisted by Serge Betsen .
London Scottish have made steady progress since arriving in the Championship some 3 seasons ago and are improving every season , before tonights game as most if not all of us discussed , it would be a close call . For Albion it was scrum & line out the penalty count and dare I mention now that the game is concluded “DISCIPLINE” which after 3 games Albion have aquired 5 yellow cards .
Kick off was under way at 7-45 pm and within 4 minutes LS were awarded a penalty on half way which was well converted by fly half Millar. 3 minutes later Tom Bowen is yellow carded for taking a player (mantella ) in the air , penalty is awarded and LS opt for goal which is missed by Millar .
PA then go on the attack and are rewarded with a penalty , kick to the corner produces a line out in a great position , Knock on scrum LS , Penalty to LS at the scrum who clear their lines to relive pressure close to half way. Referee seems to opt for penalising scrums alternately with both sides making handling errors . PA are turned over near half way and the ball is loose with LS kicking towards PA line with PA taking the ball into touch and a LS line out which is won and driven by LS , Pasqualin (scrum half ) peels from the back of the maul to get the first touch down converted by Millar 0-10 to LS .
2 minutes later PA score a try by Grace who receives the ball at pace who finds a great angle with Mugford adding the conversion 7-10 . Approaching 30 minutes Doneghan for LS is yellow carded for off the ball hand bag .The game then carries on with both sides conceding penalties at scrum time , line outs not straight and general errors that stops the game flowing . Eventually the whistle blows for half time .The first 40 was a stop start affair with LS having a lot of possession and kicking well to the corners to keep PA in their half . I believe PA entered LS 22m area three times and neither side looked to grasp control .
2nd Half PA kick off and pick up a loose ball that gets recycled and within 2 minutes Beukeboom scores a try converted by Mugford 14-10. The game has pace and intensity in this 2nd half start but after less than 10 minutes scoring a try Beukeboom is red carded for a tip tackle (spear tackle ) so PA will play the remaining 29 minutes with 14 players .From the resultant penalty LS have a lineout close to the PA line which they win and drive over with Bright converted by Millar 14-17 . 5 minutes later penalty PA , Mugford kicks 17-17 . 4 minutes later penalty PA at the scrum , Mugford kicks 20-17 . The game has picked up and PA have more ball than in the first half and look more like scoring , this was not to be as LS with 8 minutes to go broke off a breakdown by stevenson down the wing to score in the corner unconverted 20-22 . Both teams had made changes as players were injured in the last 15 minutes and PA were putting pressure on LS in the last 5 minutes but LS defence held firm and the full time whistle blew in a very very silent arena .
London Scottish deserved their four points , Albion's indiscipline with 6 yellow cards and one red in four games must be a concern as you can ill afford to play 40 minutes with 14 players as this game showed. The team is very very good when united and discipline kept , still early days , I hope for 80 minutes of continuity and discipline in the near future , as I am sure other supporters of this fine team wish for .
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This needs to be eradicated to enable the team to compete over the 80 minutes and end up winning games.
Come on Albion!!!!!!!!!!!!
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2013:10:08:18:13:06 by hills22.
