Match report Friday evening Albion .v. Notts - B & I Cup
By Flanker 7
October 12 2013
On a cold and blustery night at the Brickfields, Nottingham were the visitors for the opening campaign of this years B&I Cup. With Albion making 11 changes from the side that faced London Scottish at the weekend and the disappointing news of suspensions to T Bowen and B Beukeboom. From the kick off by Nottingham, and playing with a strong wind Albion failed to gather the first ball coughing up early possession, and giving Nottingham a chance to run the ball for which a last ditch tackle by Lewis Warner prevented a early Nottingham score.
After a few set plays on 7 minutes Nottingham were awarded a penalty and after some confusion of the wrong tee Lynn strode up and despatched the kick to put Nottingham into a early lead 0-3.
In the early stages with an ever growing penalty count against Albion the team were struggling trying to acquire some ascendancy in the game.
Both sides were trying to get a foothold in the game, however, after a few phases play would break down with a knock-on, or a not straight lineout with no early pattern to the game.
On 25 minutes the Plymouth faithful were rewarded, after many pick and go situations R Oakley eventually went over the whitewash to put Albion into the lead C Elder also converted to put Albion 7-3 up.
The Albion set piece scrum was still having its problems, and after conceding another penalty on 30 minutes M Jarvis decided with the wind in his favour to have a go from about 40 metres and he successfully brought Nottingham back into the game at 7-6.
The same pattern in the first half continued with both sides knocking on when in good positions, and there was turn over ball also for both sides, which led to nothing at the half time whistle Plymouth Albion 7 Nottingham Rugby 6.
During the interval the attendance became apparent and a very disappointing 967 braved the change in the weather.
With Albion playing with a strong wind in their favour there was a feeling of expectation of Albion adding to their tally, and after a good run by P Nonu Albion managed to get the ball out wide and open a gap for R Langley to exploit and touchdown 52 minutes gone and the conversion was missed by C Elder Albion now led 12-6.
With J Shanahan hobbling on 53 minutes changes were made H Steven, R Cushion, D Cusack all came on as C Elder, P Rowley, and J Shanahan came off.
During the interval Nottingham replaced tighthead M Holford bringing on H Williams.
With Albion acquiring better field position and seeing far greater possession Nottingham were giving away far more penalties and on 57 minutes after another infringement D Cusack despatched a penalty giving Albion a 15-6 lead.
Just before the penalty E Grace came on for S Matavesi, Nottingham would not lie down and after a spell of possession Albion conceded a penalty which M Jarvis put over kicking against a strong wind 15-9 60 minutes played.
Albion now appeared to be the more dominant and yet another penalty was put away by D Cusack stretching the lead out to 18-9.
Then On 66 minutes Albion lost the ball and G Evans was yellowed card for an off the ball incident which laid out a Nottingham player.
More and more the Nottingham team were being put under pressure and after conceding another penalty D Cusack put over again putting Albion into a 21-9 lead, whilst this incident took place and touchjudge had a word with the referee for the penalty D Montague was sin-binned.
With Albion now looking like seeing the game out, H Williams on at half time made what looked like a tip tackle and fists were flying temporarily, the referee also gave a surprising yellow card, taking Nottingham down to 13 men.
During many second half changes Nottingham brought on S Romans for Catchpole.
With the game going into injury time, Albion were dominant at a scrum and after securing good ball E Grace went over for Albion's third try and D Cusack put over the conversion 28-9.
The referee brought the game to a close and Albion made a successful start to their efforts in this years B&I Cup.
Final score: Plymouth Albion 28 Nottingham Rugby 9.
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Come cheer up, my lads - 'tis to glory we steer!
Scrums - better I think but really hard to tell given the farce that the scrums have become - the officiating of this part of the game is far to inconsistent for any side to get a settled routine with the result that all too often scrums result in either a free kick or a penalty.
My body is a temple - I desecrate it every day
Semper Sersum.
Whilst it is understandable that League considerations take priority at times our participation has been uncompetitive to say the least. This has resulted in not only a poor reputation for the tournament and hence much smaller gates, but also eliminated any hope of progress to the play-offs and additional revenue that may bring.
For Albion the lack of a development/second team fixture list means that the B&IC is also used as a testing ground for up and coming players.
The random/mobile fixtures of the Irish & Scottish fixtures haven't helped much either...
My body is a temple - I desecrate it every day
Boring first half but changed with the subs. Different match altogether but they had the yellows.
I wonder if there is a change in the reffing. Yellow cards everywhere, not just Albion ?
Come on Albi.
Have yet to hear any detail re Gareth's card - bootneck "over-enthusiasm" or genuinely innocent arrival at speed after offload? Hopefully, it's not citable. And what of the Notts "spear" tackle? All I can remember seeing was a pair of white socks at head height for a bizarrely long time...
I think having JS on the field was a major part of improved discipline. I heard some criticism of his distribution, but overall, it looked as though his presence paid off while leaving Declan a chance to ease himself back into competitive rugby.
Pleasing to see the bar so busy afterwards, too. Isn't that part of the Friday Night Experience?
Come cheer up, my lads - 'tis to glory we steer!
.
Nottingham are struggling with squad size , funding for them must be tight due to last season shortfall so I am sure we all know the financial constraints they are feeling .
Plymouth Bred , Plymouth Born .
C'mon Albiiioooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.