By Frank Stormont
October 30 2006

Ladies get a boost as they win on Sunday against Leeds based side Leos. With 13 points to Nancy Stone.  

Plymouth Albion Ladies 23
Leos 0

Albion Ladies show the visiting Leeds based side how to play rugby with strong team work and individual play.  With a number of Albion players being unavailable for selection everything said that it was going to be a difficult fixture.  Albion were in control for probably 70 minutes of the match managing to to run in three tries and beat the team that had a good win against London Wasps last week.

Within two minutes Albion were awarded a penalty in front of the posts for not rolling away at the breakdown and Nancy Stone had not hesitation in slotting the ball between the posts to take her team into the lead and give the team that extra confidence it needed. At the restart Leos did not manage to kick the ball the required 10 metres so Albion opted for the scrum on the centre spot.

With still only 7 minutes on the clock Albion won the ball against the head in the scrum and the resulting play ended with Rachel Tucker going over the line in the corner to score her 4th try of the season. Much to the jubilation of club captain Paula Bennet-Smith who was running the line.

After constant pressure on the Leos defence for a good ten minutes Nancy Stone took the opportunity when she was presented with the ball in front of the posts to drop kick a goal and take the lead 11 points to nil.

Leos tried a number of attacks in the Albion 22 but with out any success. Twice when they had the overlap they passed out too quickly which enable the Albion strong defence to cover and halt the advance.

Albion had won all the battles in the first half, for territory, possession  and points. Their spirits were up and they were there to stay and play in the second 40 minutes.

For the second time in the match when Leos kicked off at the restart the ball failed to go10 metres and Albion had the scrum on the centre spot. 

Although Leos came out playing better in the second half they were still no match for Albion.  With a penalty advantage only feet away from the Leos line Albion tried without success to move the ball wide but were held short, so with no advantage forthcoming the ref blew for the penalty on the other side of the pitch. Georgie Rozzario followed the ref across to the mark at speed taking a quick tap and passing out to Claire Steer for her to force her way across the line three metres from the left touch line.

Nancy Stone scored her own try under the posts and then converted it to collect the full house  in the17th minute of the second half.

With the match in the bag Albion lost some of their discipline and started to give away a number of penalties.  The match had been won and valuable points were gained in the league.

Of particular note was the extremely high standard of the local referee who would not have looked out of place on the men's National League One circuit. He was heard to say after the match that this was only his second season as a referee.  All I can say is long may it last.

Tristan Foster, head coach, said after the match "The girls are buzzing after the match, it is amazing to get a win on the board, especially when you consider the players that were not available for this match. We managed to play the game plan for a good 70 minutes of the match without letting Leos get any momentum.  Very pleased with the result"

More Photos to follow in the photo album