Albion'S playing resources were stretched to breaking point in a disappointing encounter with Sulians at rain soaked Bath.

Fielding a side showing six changes from last week's game - coupled with the continued absence of scrum half Roger Drabble through injury - this was always going to be a tough ask against opponents who were unbeaten at home this season.

The first half kicked off during the worst of the squally showers that swept in during the afternoon and it was Bridgwater who held the upper hand in opening encounters.

The forwards won plentiful supplies of first phase possession with locks Jerry Darley and Doug Page-Symonds ruling the early line outs and props Dale Walker and Nick Ball proving a handful for their opposite numbers at the scrummage.

The slippery ball was proving to be the undoing of the backs, however, and the link between forwards and backs was anything but smooth.

These problems were further exacerbated with the loss through injury of No 8 Haydn Johnson after ten minutes, leaving Bridgwater with a distinct lack of experience in critical areas of the field.

With Albion's early territorial advantage failing to yield any points, Sulians started to gain in confidence and their sharper play at the breakdown began to show dividends.

Their first try after 20 minutes came after a bout of pressure that saw the Bridgwater defence moved from one side of the field to the other until the Sulians No 8 eventually won a penalty which he took quickly and crashed over through a pile of bodies.

Bridgwater were finding it difficult to put any phases of play together and although their line was never really under siege they were always playing catch up rugby against a side who were adept at snaffling turnover ball at the breakdown.

It was well into the second half before Sulians increased their lead this time through some direct running from their centres, who took advantage of a dog leg defence to score in the corner.

The conversion was missed and the match slowly slipped away from the visitors as further changes in personnel and some poor decision-making when in possession confounded their best efforts to gain a losing bonus point.

The final play of the game resulted in another unconverted try for Sulians who ran out deserving winners against a lacklustre Bridgwater side who must be hoping for the quick return of some of the players who have stood them in good stead so far this season.

Team: Brakes Lang Rae Bradley Clark Heal Norman Ball Norman Walker Darley Page-Symonds Russell Frecknell Johnson. Reps: (all used) Thompson, Denovan, Sturdy.