South West 1 West
Keynsham 19, Bridgwater & Albion 23

BRIDGWATER & Albion moved up to sixth place in the South West 1 West table after winning a hard-fought contest at Keynsham on Saturday afternoon, writes Richard Walsh.

After being narrowly defeated in their last three fixtures against some of the league's top sides, Albion got back to winning ways, but they were made to work hard in a game that could have gone either way right up until the final whistle.

The hosts were quickly into their stride and created pressure from the kick-off, rewarded after eight minutes when Oakley Goodland broke down the left and scored an unconverted try in the corner.

Albion responded strongly, though, and three minutes later they opened their account when Stuart Heal slotted a long-range penalty.

The visitors were very much in the ascendancy at this stage, and shortly afterwards they took the lead when number 8 Brad Talbot made a surging break and skipper Ollie Dunn followed up to score a try which Heal converted.

The away side mounted further attacking moves and looked likely to extend their lead, until in the 22nd minute a fleet-footed John Pearce intercepted a pass deep in his own half and sprinted almost the full length of the pitch for a try that full-back Sam Challenger converted to put Keynsham back in the lead at 12-10.

That score put Albion on the back foot and five minutes later a rejuvenated home side added a further try, as Dan Moody scored between the posts and Challenger converted.

Albion were reduced to 14 men when Arron Kelly was yellow carded for a high tackle, but just before the break they were awarded a penalty for Keynsham not retreating, and Heal was on target to make the score 19-13 at the interval.

Bridgwater started strongly after half time and looked to have scored a try, but the referee deemed that the ball had been held up.

Still the visitors grew in confidence as the game went on, and they edged themselves closer when Heal kicked another penalty, awarded for offside.

Keynsham were far from done, but all of their attacks were repelled by the visiting defence, while both Kyran Devitt and Rob Gurnett produced good individual breaks yet could not reach the line.

The decisive score went to Albion, as a quickly-taken penalty led to Talbot dashing over to score a try from close range, which Heal converted.

In the dying minutes of the game the hosts had Tim Coghlan sent off for foul play, and there was no further score, meaning a 23-19 victory for Albion, who had shown great spirit in coming from behind at half time, to the delight of a large travelling support.

Bridgwater & Albion: Matt Ranson, Sam Adcock, Craig Blyde, Ethan Trebble-Westlake, Arron Kelly, Ollie Dunn (c), George Sluman, Brad Talbot, Tom Fournier d’Able, Stuart Heal, Kyran Devitt, Lewis Plece, Jay Owens, Jon Hill and Rob Gurnett.
Replacements (not used): Adrian Tew, Garryn Basson, Nik Bradley.

After the game director of rugby Geoff Sluman said: “We are really pleased with the result against Keynsham, who were a very determined side on their own pitch.

“The Albion lads that played put in a very big shift and it took tremendous effort to see the game out.

"We defended well, took our opportunities when they came and played with a lot of spirit and cohesion.”

This coming Saturday, Albion face Hornets in the semi-finals of the Somerset Cup, at Weston-super-Mare RFC (kick-off 2pm).

Hornets are in the league above, so Albion can expect another tough match against a side that is likely to contain some of their former players.