South West One (W)
Drybrook 22, Bridgwater & Albion 0

ALBION put up a spirited performance but ended up returning from the Forest of Dean without troubling the scorers as the third-placed side took the spoils.

Both sides created openings early on but could not convert positive openings into points on the board, with the hosts rescued by the boot of their full-back on several occasions as Albion pushed forward.

Having survived the pressure, Drybrook then broke the deadlock when they made the most of an attacking lineout and saw Price crash over for the opening score of the afternoon, which was converted by Baldwin.

Roger Drabble and Sam Britton led the Albion charge as the visitors looked to respond, but they could not break through and went into the break 7-0 down.

The lead was stretched two minutes into the second half when Large broke through the visiting defence to dot down, with Baldwin again adding the extras.

Albion responded well, with Luke Plummer and Ethan Trebble-Westlake creating opportunities, but again they failed to make their pressure pay.

Drybrook, on the other hand, were making the most of their good spells and sealed the win with a Baldwin penalty and a late Moore try to leave Albion ninth in the table.

Reflecting on Saturday’s defeat at Drybrook, Albion head coach Simon Morrell said: “First and foremost it was a good game and we set out with the intention of competing for the full 80 minutes.

“We were much improved in several areas from our game against Clevedon.

“Against a really tough and strong Drybrook team our defence was superb - we could easily have been blown away if we hadn’t been on our mettle, so even though we lost I felt we put in a good performance.

“It was hammer-and-tongs stuff with both teams going for each other. Drybrook had to work very hard to get their chances and would have come away thinking that was a proper tough game.

“It was pleasing that, given the number of injuries we have suffered, we gave the sort of performance we did at Drybrook.

“This weekend we have a very winnable game at home to Midsomer Norton, after which we will travel to Matson for our final match.

“We don’t want the season to fizzle out so we are targeting this game as one we want to win, especially as there will be a big crowd with the Friends of Bridgwater Rugby Club holding a lunch beforehand."

Albion’s final home match of this season against Midsomer Norton gets underway at College Way at 3pm on Saturday.