National League 1 - 2015-6 Wk 20

Albion travel to Esher this weekend and will be looking to avenge the drubbing dished out back in October. Like Coventry last week, we share some recent history with the Surrey club from our time in the C'ship. It's a highly personal thing, but the impression lingers of the fixtures always being "them or us" affairs in the relegation play-offs. Not unsporting by any means, but ruled by the soulless necessity of keeping clear of the trapdoor. Our game at home in the autumn typified Esher's performance to date; when you win, win big. Perhaps there was a measure of complacency in the Albion side which was tentatively finding it's feet in Nat 1. And maybe we thought we had the measure of Paul Roberts. If so, we were cruelly punished - he bossed the whole affair pretty damned well and scooped a good few points for himself; 12 - 38. Ouch!

Esher are four places above us in the league, which is down to four more 4T bonuses - and a very much healthier points difference. Our winning margins barely cancel out our losing deficits while the Surrey side have a surplus of almost 200. On the minus side, Esher's seven losses have hardly been catastrophic: Ampthill by 11, Hartpury by 17, Park by 3, Blaydon by 6, DMP by 8, Blackheath by 7 and Richmond by 14. Esher are one of the two other teams to have beaten the current league leaders. That was the week before they played us at Brickfields and at home. This time around, they lost by two full scores at the RAG...

While it may smack of arrogance, I reckon this is the week that Albion keep the chimp in the cage, step up to the plate and put down a marker; "We can (- and deserve to) be top four in this league". We've shown we can beat the front-runners. Now we have to cement those results with a calculated resolve to demonstrate the progress made this season and move (modestly) to the top table. If GD's standing is such that he's invited to help out the national side in training, then he must be doing something right in the eyes of HQ. Hopefully, there'll have been a bit of two way traffic and he'll have picked up a few nuggets of current top level practice to pass on to our pack. The weather forecast is mostly dry over the next couple of days and on Saturday - which will doubtless cheer the lads up. No picnic for sure, but the SHA prediction is: Esher 1 - 5 PARFC.

Once more, those busy bees at Albi Travel have enough support to run a coach to Molesey Road. Drop Martin & co a line if you want to join the (NJ) party.
Here's the full fixture list:

Sat 30 Jan

Blaydon v Richmond   14:00   Crow Trees

Blackheath v Ampthill   15:00   Rectory Field

Cinderford v Hartpury College   15:00   Beavis Memorial Ground

Coventry v Hull Ionians   15:00   Butts Park Arena

Darlington Mowden Park v Wharfedale   15:00   Northern Echo Arena

Esher v Plymouth Albion   15:00   Molesey Road

Henley v Loughborough Students   15:00   Dry Leas

Rosslyn Park v Fylde   15:00   The Rock