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Monday, September 22, 2008, 09:00
The bonus-point victory at Brickfields suggested that Graham Dawe's side were really starting to gel as a unit just three matches into the 2008/09 season.
Yet their abject performance against Newbury, who began the day rooted to the bottom of National Division One without a point, is likely to have undone any optimism that the club's supporters may have had prior to the clash.
Credit must go to the hosts, who appeared far hungrier than Albion throughout the match, as they claimed their first win of the term.
But the Brickfields outfit also contributed to their own demise with a series of unforced errors.
The mistakes either put Plymouth under pressure defensively or denied them the chance to generate any attacking momentum.
Albion, who have not won a league game away from home in the whole of 2008, started slowly.
They found themselves 11-0 down after 12 minutes and they just could not recover from there.
They did have chances to get themselves back in the game as the half wore on, but they wasted two five-metre scrum opportunities and a close-range line-out.
Had they scored a try at either of those junctures, then the result could have been different.
But Albion failed to click in an attacking sense with wingers Liam Gibson and Justin Mensah-Coker, severe threats to the opposition when they have ball in hand, seeing little action.
Gibson made a powerful run midway through the first half, which almost led to a try.
But that occurrence was all too rare as Albion spent more time trying to restrict Newbury than build their own attacks.
Trailing 14-3 at the break, Dawe's side were still in the game.
When Ross Laidlaw narrowed the deficit to 14-6 early in the second half, hope evolved into genuine optimism as far as Plymouth were concerned.
Yet a second Newbury try eight minutes from time – with Albion debutant Sean-Michael Stephen in the sin-bin – just about extinguished any hopes the visitors had of snatching victory.
Replacement Kieran Hallett did score his first try for the club in added-on time to give the Brickfields outfit a chance of securing a bonus point or possibly more.
But the fly-half, who touched down just left of the posts, opted to take his conversion attempt further out and it sailed wide left, leaving Albion eight points behind instead of six.
The loss of one bonus point may not seem like a major factor at this early stage of the season.
But with five sides possibly being relegated at the end of this season every point is vital.
Next up for Albion is the visit of London Welsh to Brickfields on Saturday.
A much-improved display will be required if the Brickfields outfit are to bounce back immediately.
Albion gave debuts to World Cup duo Stephen and Jané Du Toit at Monks Lane, while chairman of rugby Dawe lined up at hooker with James Owen unfit and Gareth Evans unavailable.
Highly-rated flanker Mike Denbee was also out with injury.
It was Dawe's first start since the National Division One title showdown clash with Bristol at Brickfields in March 2005.
Yet the visitors had little time to settle before Newbury took a 3-0 lead on four minutes courtesy of a Gareth Griffiths penalty.
Two minutes later Griffiths doubled the home side's lead with his second penalty after Albion were penalised for offside and had hardly got going.
Laidlaw had a chance to half the deficit a minute later with what looked like a relatively simple penalty, but his kick sailed wide left of the posts and the chance was missed.
Albion really could have done with those three points to settled them down.
Newbury extended their advantage on 12 minutes when hooker and captain Paul Fincken went over for the game's opening try.
Griffiths missed the conversion, but Newbury now led 11-0 and Albion knew they were in for a tough afternoon.
The visitors responded well and for the first time in the contest, they put their hosts under pressure defensively.
But despite having their five-metre scrum and line-out opportunities, they could not break down a resolute Newbury defence.
Albion had a couple of five-metre scrums where they had the push on but the ball came loose before they could go over.
The home side lost centre Spencer Wakeling on 35 minutes with a serious knee injury – Jonathan Hylton replaced him – and the game was held up for six minutes. But the disruption did not appear to affect Newbury too much, although eight minutes later Laidlaw kicked a penalty to score Albion's first points and reduce the gap to 11-3.
However, the hosts cancelled out those three points in the 10th minute of added-on time when Griffiths kicked a penalty to ensure the home side went in at the break 14-3 ahead.
Less than a minute into the second half Albion were handed a chance to add to their total when Newbury were penalised for diving in.
But Laidlaw 22-metre attempt fell wide left of the posts and the visitors had plenty to do to get themselves back into the clash.
However, the fly-half made no mistake when he was presented with another opportunity on 46 minutes to narrow the gap to 14-6.
Both sides then missed one penalty apiece – Newbury's Griffiths on 49 minutes and Albion replacement Kieran Hallett in the 56th minute.
So, as the game entered a crucial final quarter, the game was still in the balance.
Newbury flanker Joseph Clark was yellow-carded for a professional foul on 63 minutes.
But Albion had just six minutes with a one-man advantage as debutant Stephen was yellow-carded on 69 minutes.
Three minutes later, the game was as good as ever when Newbury scrum-half Waylon Gasson scored his side's second try to give them a 19-6 lead.
Griffiths' conversion struck the right-hand upright before bouncing out, but Albion needed to respond in order to claim at least a bonus point.
It looked like Dawe's side would do just that when Hallett scored a try in the second minute of added-on time to narrow the gap to 19-11.
Yet the fly-half surprisingly missed the conversion and the visitors needed another score in order not to go home without any return – and two more to win the game with only a couple of minutes left.
Replacement Wayne Sprangle made a strong break in the closing moments of the game.
But he was stopped 20 metres from the Newbury try-line and with no team-mates in support, the move petered out, ensuring Albion emerged with nothing from the game.
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