National League 1 - 2015-6 Wk 23

Albion weclome Henley to Brickfields this Saturday having survived a minor wobble in the Cinderford game last Saturday. We may have scooped all the points, but a full coach of supporters was left reaching for the beta blockers as the second half progressed - and that was starting with a man advantage. The team coped well with challenging elements (again!), but faced with some "marginal" tactics from our hosts and an enthusiastic card shuffler in the middle, the collective cool and control unravelled somewhat. At least the game finished with stability restored.

The Hawks were champs of Nat 2 South last year and thus came to this league automatically, but they've been feeling the pain since Day 1 when Rosslyn Park gave them a +50 point reality check. Five league points ahead of basement Cinderford with five wins and a draw to their credit, they've clearly struggled at this level. Nilled on more than one occasion, they gave us our numerically best result this term at Dry Leas back in November (3 - 36). There just isn't enough firepower in their attack (307 points for) and this week it's their misfortune to carry the dreaded "666" points against label and thus the worst PD in the league. They were unable to trouble the scorekeeper at Richmond last weekend as the home side piled on 36. Before any thoughts of cricket scores venture into our heads, we should recognise their pegging of Ampthill and a victory over DMP (away) - plus our own hiccup late on in the Forest of Dean last week...

Due to the quirks of  the 6 Nations fixture list, we will have only two First XV games in the whole of March - both against well performing teams. We travel to Darlington on the fifth and Blackheath visit two weeks later. We may be fortunate not to have had games postponed over the winter and will therefore benefit from "blank" weekends, but we will also be short of game time as a result. (April will be chock full, with a full five games in four weeks!) So, it's important that this game is tightly controlled and gives us a solid platform for the challenges ahead. Five league points would appear to be on offer; but an even, managed performance would definitely be preferable to another second half heart-stopper. Probably the most important number will be the penalty count against us.

As I write, the rain is lashing against the windows and more is forecast for late in the week. At the moment, it's hardly likely to be regatta weather on Saturday - but at least we shouldn't have a boating pool for a pitch. Vince Jones is running another 200 Club Lunch in the East Stand Suite (see the "sticky" on the Message Board), but get your skates on if you want to take advantage of a great package - we don't want to give the chef any palpitations.

Here's the full fixture list:

Sat 20 Feb

Hull Ionians v Cinderford   14:00   Brantingham Park

Loughborough Students v Ampthill   14:00   UoL Stadium

Wharfedale v Rosslyn Park   14:00   The Avenue

Hartpury College v Blackheath   14:30   College Stadium

Coventry v Esher   15:00   Butts Park Arena

Fylde v Blaydon   15:00   Woodlands

Plymouth Albion v Henley   15:00   Brickfields

Richmond v Darlington Mowden Park   15:00   Richmond Athletic Ground