Round 8: Albion v Birmingham Moseley

Albion return from another disappointing away defeat to take on Birmingham Moseley at the Brickfields. Unusually, this match is scheduled to kick off at 19:45 so plenty of time to get a few beers in.  

After last weeks surprising loss to the TJs, Albion surprisingly remain in 4th position and still within 6 points of the new leaders Rosslyn Park. Meanwhile, Mose have not had a good start to the season winning only 2 fixtures to date, with the last being a good and welcome result at home against Blackheath. This result lifted them from 12th to 10th although an interesting battle appears to be developing in the lower end of the table. Albion have won the last 5 encounters between the sides with the latest seeing Mose fight back from being 15-30 down to fall short at 32-33.

So far, Albion have chalked up 46 tries, the second highest tally in the league behind Rotherham's 47. Mose have scored 26 which puts them in 9th. They have let in 30 compared to Albion's 21. It appears that Mose have a strong pack who are adapt at both attacking and defending. The back line is another story and is clearly the weak area of their game. We could well see Albion shifting the ball away from the pack and probe the defensive back line at every opportunity.

Opportunities may come via the Referee, who will be aware that Mose currently have the worst disciplinary record in the league picking up 7 yellows and 1 red. Albion so far only have 2.

Player to watch - Oliver Steadman - the veteran No 8 has scored 5 tries from 4 games this season.

Weather - light showers with a gentle breeze from the main stand side. Being a night game* the temperatures will drop to 8°.

Prediction: Should be a win for Albion, but Mose have shown they can cause an upset.

Other games of note:

Rotherham vs Tonbridge Juddians. Two surprises last week saw Roth fall to lowly Dings, and TJs running in 5 against Albion. Roth are likely to bounce back, but have TJs had a massive boost to their squad?

Rams vs Blackheath - Both sides straddle Albion in 3rd and 5th respectively after swapping positions last week, Rams have had the better form of late, although against team in the lower reaches of the table, whilst Blackheath will be looking to return to winning ways and leapfrog Rams into 3rd or 4th depending on Albion's result.

Sedgley vs Dings - The Tigers will find out whether the Crusaders can play away from home.