On Saturday we were away to old rivals Plymouth Albion on a long five hour coach trip and a very early morning start. We had beaten them at our ground back in October 41 26 so we were confident that we could put in a solid performance and get the rewards. They are however a top six team with a very impressive home record who are difficult to beat on their ground. Even though it was a dry day, the pitch was extremely heavy and muddy with a wind blowing down the slope. We elected to play against the element in the first half and started well looking to build phases in their half. We were awarded a penalty which fly half Warren Seales converted putting us up 3-0 after just three minutes. However a yellow card for our hooker Ben Gregory after fifteen minutes put us down to fourteen players and it was during this ten minute period that Plymouth went ahead by scoring two converted tries. Their first came from a scrum on our line which they drove over and the second was quick hands and an overlap from a scrum. They were now 3-14 up after twenty three minutes. Unfortunately this was a period of play where our discipline was poor giving too many penalties away and our defence should have been better. Another penalty gave them possession and a scrum deep in our twenty two from which their scrum half broke and touched down for their third converted try. This was followed up five minutes later with a line break from forty metres out which resulted in their fourth and bonus point try giving them a very commanding 3-28 lead with five minutes to go of the half. However just before the break we were awarded a penalty on their five metre line which was driven over by the forwards for hooker Ben Gregory to touch down. Warren added the difficult conversion and we went into half time 10-28 down and a massive mountain to climb in the second period. This was a disappointing half for the Tigers and we knew that we had to be better if we were to get anything out of the game. Going with the elements and playing catch up rugby we looked to keep the home side pinned down in their half. A penalty from Warren after three minutes reduced the lead to 13-28 but poor defence saw them break through our midfield and score their fifth converted try to put them 13-35 in front with most of the half to go. Despite the set back we reacted with a try for tight head prop Danny Rylance who powered over from five metres and another penalty from Warren shortly after to further reduce the lead to 21-35. We were now playing with tempo and momentum looking to test Plymouth’s defence at every opportunity. They were awarded another penalty but a great try for centre Matt Law converted by Warren put us right back in the game 28-38 going into the last ten minutes. We knew that we needed another score to get the losing bonus point and with the last play of the game winger Rhys Henderson touched down in the bottom right hand corner. The game ended 35-38 to the home side but two very valuable bonus points for the Tigers. This was definitely a game of two halves and a massive effort from the players who gave their all but we know that we have to perform for the full eighty minutes especially as we have games against the top four sides coming up.
Many Thanks, Steve Hazz.
