PLYMOUTH Albion recorded what could yet turn out to be a vital Championship victory at a windswept Old Deer Park on Saturday.

Entering the clash, Graham Dawe's side sat just one off the bottom and in fear of being firmly rooted in the relegation play-off places.

Yet, following a fantastic team display which saw them claim a bonus point for scoring four tries, the Brickfields club have moved up a place to ninth.

They have leapfrogged Doncaster and Rotherham, but more importantly given themselves a huge chance of pushing on and climbing the table further.

Albion are now level on points with both eighth-placed Coventry.

They are also just four points behind sixth-placed London Welsh and seventh-placed Moseley.

All those sides, apart from Doncaster, still have to visit Brickfields this season.

Having claimed what many would describe as a surprise win in a game which signified the halfway stage of the campaign, it is now up to Albion to produce the same level of performance they showed at Old Deer Park in the second half of the season.

If they can, they will improve on their record of four victories from 11 matches and would almost certainly finish in the promotion play-off places.

One of the biggest problems for Albion this season has been their inability to score tries.

They had accumulated just 18 tries in 10 matches prior to their trip to Old Deer Park – only Rotherham with 16 had scored fewer.

To make matters worse for Dawe's side on Saturday, they had to try and improve their record against a strong London Welsh defence which had conceded just 16 tries.

However, while Welsh managed to score two tries, Albion went two better to register four scores of their own including two early second half tries in the space of three minutes which shook the game on its head.

Plymouth trailed 12-5 at the break after doing brilliantly to combat a swirling wind having a huge impact on the game.

Having done all the hard work in the opening 40 minutes, they took full advantage of the hosts having Nick Runciman sin-binned on 36 minutes to lead 19-12 after 45 minutes.

From there, with the wind behind them, Albion played the perfect game.

Welsh, who had been training with England during the week, rarely threatened offensively while Plymouth, whose forwards in particular were immense, increased their lead on 72 minutes after being awarded a penalty try.

The Brickfields club then closed the game out perfectly – they could have even added to their lead – to record their first away win of the season and only their second away success of 2009.

Albion now have a fortnight's break from league action with two British and Irish Cup matches coming up next.

Their next Championship clash is a crunch one with the visit of Rotherham to Brickfields on December 5, but a repeat of Saturday's display should be enough for Dawe's side to claim another vital victory.

Saturday's encounter at Old Deer Park was just three minutes old when Albion, playing against the wind, fell behind after Welsh winger Dominic Shabbo scored the opening try.

Fly-half Aled Thomas added the extras and the hosts were 7-0 in front.

Albion came close to scoring their first try six minutes later when Ben Mercer just failed to gather a Ruairi Cushion cross-kick.

They were awarded a penalty after Welsh were penalised for offside, but Plymouth skipper Kieran Hallett's kick held up in the wind and dropped well short.

On 17 minutes, Albion got themselves right back in it when Keni Fisilau set up Sean-Michael Stephen to cross the whitewash.

Hallett's conversion, unsurprisingly, was held up in the wind but Plymouth trailed by just two points, 7-5.

Six minutes later that all changed when Welsh scored their second try.

Hallett misjudged a high kick and although Cushion did well to gather the ball, he put Liam Gibson under pressure with a poor pass.

Gibson was tackled just metres from his own try-line and Shabbo gathered the loose ball to cross for his second try of the match. Thomas missed the conversion, but Welsh were 12-5 in front.

Albion did brilliantly to ensure they did not concede any further points in the remainder of the half and they could come out for the second period in positive mood after Runciman was yellow-carded.

The one negative for Plymouth was the sight of flanker Stephen being helped off the pitch at the break with a knee injury.

The Canadian international didn't emerge at the start of the second half with Wayne Sprangle replacing him.

But Stephen's absence didn't disrupt Albion as it took them just two minutes of the second period to double their try tally.

Mercer and Fisilau combined on the right hand touchline with the latter eventually touching down for his fourth try of the season.

Alex Davies, assuming the kicking duties from Hallett, added the extras and the game was tied at 12-12.

Three minutes later, Albion went in front for the first time when Sprangle crossed the whitewash following a powerful 40-metre run.

Davies kicked a superb conversion from just inside the right hand touchline and the visitors were now 19-12 ahead.

With their tails up, Albion went in search of more points.

They had an opportunity to increase their lead on 62 minutes when Welsh were penalised for pulling down the maul, but Davies' kick from halfway dropped short of the posts.

Albion continued to dominate and finally moved further ahead on 72 minutes when they were awarded a penalty try, which gave them a bonus point.

Davies added the extras for 26-12 and that was effectively that.

Albion's fly-half attempted a drop-goal on 77 minutes in a bid to put the seal on the victory, but his kick missed.

Davies then missed a penalty in the first minute of added-on time.

But neither detracted from a fine team performance which fully deserved the bonus point win.