NOONECHRONICLESTHEACTIONBETTERTHANUS ‘I CAN’T FAULT THE EFFORT’ WINNING RUN ENDS AS RAMS BEATEN AT PLYMOUTH

By RICHARD ASHTON sport@wokingham.today

Plymouth Albion 27

Rams 24

DIRECTOR of Rugby Seb Reynolds admitted Plymouth Albion were worthy winners after Rams’ second-half fightback fell just short in a 27-24 reverse at Brickfields.

The visitors had gone in front with skipper Robbie Stapley claiming his 97th try for the club at the back of a maul, but a disastrous 20-minute period saw Plymouth wrest the initiative and a 24-5 lead.

Hooker Harry Wilkinson led the way with two tries on the back of the hosts’ own destructive maul, while wings Kyle Speare and Jon Dawe both then crossed with Connor Eastgate – taking over kicking duties with Tom Putt in the sin-bin – landing two fine touchline conversions.

Rams gave themselves hope before the break as Henry Bird’s sizzling break gave them the field position for Max Hayman to crash over, Rowan Grundy with the extras to reduce the deficit to 12 at the interval.

A 54th-minute Eastgate penalty pushed Albion three scores clear, but a brilliant team move finished by Jak Rossiter and a close-range Niall Kidd effort cut the gap to three with five minutes remaining.

However, despite camping inside the Plymouth 22, some outstanding defence gave the Ocean City’s Finest a win which underlined their capabilities in what has been a much-improved campaign in which their home record is one of the best in the division.

Reynolds said: “It was a really good game and Plymouth played very well. They were highly