After a frustrating loss in difficult conditions at home to fourth place Cinderford, Plymouth Albion make the relatively short trip (for National League One standards!) to Birmingham Moseley this weekend.
Four points further up the table but having played one game more than Albion, this is something of a big game for the ocean cities finest as they look to get breathing space from the wrong end of the table.
Having defeated the Midlander’s in a convincing 34-12 bonus point win earlier in the season, Albion will certainly fancy their chances at Billesley Common. With minimal changes to the team, the most notable inclusions are that of being Ed Scragg and Will Gibson in the pack who replace the injured Shek Sherriff and George Mills.
Out wide, Tom Putt reverts to fly half with Phil Jones moving out to the centres alongside Jeremy To’a. On the bench the return of Cornishmen Torin Clarke and Frankie Nowell will add some impact as the team look to get only their second away win of the term.
Speaking about the game, head coach Damian Wlech said, “We felt a bit disappointed by our performance against Cinderford but it shows our development that we can be disappointed with a bonus point against one of the top sides in the competition. Nevertheless, there’s plenty of positives that we can look to build on against Birmingham. We had a good performance in our first meeting and I’m sure that’ll be mentioned by them this week. We have to be ready for that and ready to reproduce that performance”
With fellow strugglers Blackheath next up at the Brickfields, a win here could auger well for Albion.
Birmingham Moseley v Plymouth Albion
3 PM Billesley Common
1 Danny Southworth
2 Jamie Salter
3 Dan Pullinger
4 Dan Collier
5 Ed Scragg
6 Jake Clemson
7 Will Gibson
8 Herbie Stupple
9 Henry Clement
10 Tom Putt
11 Alex Ducker
12 Phil Jones
13 Jeremy To’a
14 Shea Cornish
15 Craig Duncan
16 Harry Wilkinson
17 Ramaz Rukhadze
18 Torin Clarke
19 Frankie Nowell
20 Setareki Raumakita