Albion back on track as Roth splinter under the pressure
PLYMOUTH Albion bounced back from a heavy defeat the previous week to record a hard-earned victory over fifth-placed Rotherham Titans in front of a healthy Brickfields crowd.
Plymouth had the better of the first half but Rotherham roared back in the second period and put a lot of pressure on the Plymouth pack.
Although Plymouth outscored Rotherham by three tries to two, their win was built around an excellent defensive showing.
Plymouth head coach Kieran Hallett was pleased with his side’s performance, saying, “I’m very happy with the win against a very good Rotherham team.
“We were disappointed with how we played last week but as a coaching team I think we got things right this week and got the emotional response that we asked for from the players.
“After a good start we would have liked to have kicked on but we got a little nervy and had some problems with our ball retention.
“Our defence was outstanding but there are some very sore bodies out there and we will be glad that next weekend is blank.”
On a heavy pitch Plymouth took an early lead when centre Jon Dawe crossed wide out after good period of pressure from the pack. Full-back Matt Shepherd converted before a great tackle in midfield by Dawe set up the position from which Plymouth scored their second try.
Dawe’s hit enabled scrum-half Cameron Setter to put a kick behind the Rotherham defence and winger Jack Arnott gathered the bouncing ball before dotting down under the posts with Shepherd adding the extras.
When Plymouth were penalised at a ruck Rotherham full-back Alex Dolly opened his side’s account with a well-struck 35-metre penalty.
From the restart Rotherham transgressed and Shepherd matched Dolly’s effort with his own three pointer to settle the nerves of the home fans.
In first-half stoppage time Rotherham scored their first try when the ball went through a number of hands before skipper Seb
Nagle-Taylor touched down with Dolly converting to swing the momentum their way heading into the second half.
But Plymouth opened the scoring in the second half when, after putting a penalty into the corner, a well worked catch and drive was finished off by replacement hooker Davy McGregor with Shepherd once again converting.
In the closing stages Plymouth were reduced to 14 when lock Dan Swain was yellow carded but the home held out for a well-received victory.
A disappointed Titans head coach Joe Barker said: “We made a poor start and played the opening half hour on the back foot. We just couldn’t seem to get into game and found ourselves 14-0 down.
“The try we scored just before just before the interval gave us a lift and we played much better in the last 50 minutes. We made far too many errors out there and you can’t expect to win a game at this level when your line out doesn’t function.
“We changed a few things at half time and were dominant up front but we couldn’t convert that dominance into points.”