Spy in the Henley Camp
Henley
By Frank Stormont
January 10 2008
A look at the weekend ahead. As Albion travel to Henley with a strong side including a few Warriors in the front line. With teams meeting each other 8 times but splitting the honours evenly between, 4 each.
This Weekend
v 
Henley v Albion
Saturday 12th Jan
K.O. 3 pm
Also this weekend Ladies travel to Richmond on Sunday
Albion name a strong side to take on the Hawks!
 |  George |  Richard |  Steve | |
 Jannie |  Tom |  Mike |  Adam | |
|  Chris | |
|  Matt |  Brad | |
 Darren | |  Keni |  Arran |  Wihan |
|  Emyr | |
Bench from
 Nigel |  Ross |  Nat |  Ross |  Tim |
 James |  Brett |  Colin |  Mike |
Something has got to break the mould at this fixture. The sides have met 8 times with both sides winning 4. In the 3 years of the National Trophy matches Hawks have never won at home and Albion have never won away from home. Henley have fallen at the 4th round for the last two seasons.
Both sides have not on a good run with Henley losing to Waterloo last week 34 - 0 and we know only too well how Albion have been doing.
Henley finished in third place last season missing out on promotion to Lanson but now sit 11th in NL2. Their top points scorer from last season, fly half, Mitch Burton has moved closer to London and playing for London Welsh. Their top try scorer plays at 2 and is still with the team and named for Saturday's match.
Hawks Team Jim Farndon; Mark Odejobi, Nathan Lambden, Mark Sweeney, Chris Simmons: Mark Meenan, Callum Grant: Andy Le Chevalier, Dinos Alexipoulos, Richard Hoskins, Steve Green, Rob Hurrell, Matt Payne, Stean Williams, Dave Archer Replacements: Liam Wordley, Steve Robinson, James Winterbottom, Adrian Griffiths, James Gaunt, Felise Ah-Ling, Elliot O’Brien
Player profiles can be found on the Hawks Website
Other
EDF Energy National Trophy
fixtures
| Saturday, 12 January 2008 | ||
| Blackheath | Vs. | Halifax |
| Cambridge | Vs. | Rotherham Titans |
| Doncaster | Vs. | Richmond |
| Esher | Vs. | Worthing |
| Moseley | Vs. | Pertemp Bees |
| Nuneaton | Vs. | All Blacks |
| Otley | Vs. | Bedford |
| Cornish Pirates | Vs. | Northampton |
| Preston Grasshoppers | Vs. | Blaydon |
| Sedgley Park | Vs. | Ealing |
| Tynedale | Vs. | Manchester |
| Wharfedale | Vs. | Exeter |
Sunday, 13 January 2008 | ||
| Mounts Bay | Vs. | Coventry |
| Nottingham | Vs. | Newbury Blues |
| Redruth | Vs. | London Welsh |
NL1 Teams in Bold
NL2 Teams Normal
NL3 and lower italics
Henley Hawks Press release
ARE THE HAWKS ABLE TO TOPPLE THE ALBION?Henley Hawks are the under dogs for this EDF Trophy 4th Round match this Saturday, at Dry Leas, kick-off 3 pm. A victory for the National 2 side at present eleventh in the league seems unlikely as Plymouth are seventh in National 1. Cup ties are notorious for recording upsets and a Hawks side, devastated by injury, would seem not to be likely candidates to pull off a surprise.
Jon Lambden the Hawks’ director of rugby has had to ring the changes following injuries at Waterloo last Saturday. The backs feature three players who did not play at Blundellsands – half-backs Mark Meenan and Grant Cullum and wing Mark Odejobi who is on loan from Wasps as the Hawks have seven backs injured at present. With four centres out Nathan Lambden has to move from full back to centre, a position he has not filled since schooldays. Utility back Jim Farndon takes his place at the rear after playing at No. 10 last week.
The pack has also been reshuffled . Dinos Alexipoulos starts at hooker instead of Tom Muggridge but Liam Wordley, who played his first game of the season for the Alliance against Newbury mid-week, may feature at some stage if he passes a late fitness test. Cornishman .Richard Hoskins makes his debut on return from Maidenhead where he has been on loan. Lock James Winterbottom misses his first start of the season but is on the bench as is new signing Adrian Griffiths, the Bath development second row who played all his early rugby at Maidenhead. Another new face on the bench is London Irish Academy fly-half Elliott O’Brien who has impressed in games for the Alliance.
Lambden is taking full advantage of the seven replacements permitted in these cup matches.
Since the two sides last met Plymouth have fared well in National 1 finishing in the top six for the last four seasons. This year they have not had such a good experience although lying comfortably in seventh place at the present . Of late they have had a series of losses including a 11-10 defeat by local rivals Exeter. They are just on the credit side in terms of victories and defeats having won ten and lost nine. Last Sunday their poor form continued when a strongly improving Nottingham side defeated them 31 –9.
Like the Hawks they are finding it difficult to score tries having failed to cross the line in their last two games relying on the boot of fly-half Ross Laidlaw who has scored 161 points to date including three penalties, in their last recorded victory, against bottom of the league Pertemps Bees.
It has been recorded that Albion have changed their style of play this season so as not to rely on a strong pack which was well illustrated when 14 Albion players represented Devon in the final of the County Championship when they took revenge over Lancashire who had denied them the season before.
Director of Rugby Graham Dawe, the former England hooker, has produced sides which strongly reflect his own approach to the game but he has been responsible for the development of players through a strong youth policy. He has also been feeding a stream of players to Bristol which has helped them to get established in the Premier League. Starting with wing Lee Robinson and then Dan Ward-Smith on the edge of England fame, brothers Luke and Tom Arscott are now making waves at the Memorial Ground.
Such a drain of talent has, of course, affected Plymouth’s further progress. Nevertheless they have retained the leading try scorer in a season, Frenchman Nic Sestaret. Last campaign the winger notched 28 in league and cup games and he is obviously a man to watch as is Liam Gibson, who operates on the right wing. Hawks supporters will recall him playing for Newbury against the Alliance.
With both sides struggling to find form this could be an intriguing game.
------
(concessions OAP /Students £7 under 16's free)
Grandstand £13 ( includes programme - additional programmes £2)
Car Park free (adjacent)
2 Bars Open 12 noon
Hog Roast,Snacks,Tea/Coffee
Officials for the day
Referee: Terry Hall
Touch judges: Chris Seeley, Steve Savage
Assessor: David Warren, Peter Wakefield
Terry has not refereed at any NL1 matches this season but he did ref our National trophy match last season against Waterloo.
Predictions
BetFred
NYA
RugbyRoundup
NYA
Rugby Times
Albion by 18
Franks Prediction
If Albion play like the Warriors did on Wednesday night I predict that they will come away with a solid win with a margin of 30 points. Henley will score a try and maybe a number of penalties.
If you are a registered user you can make your own prediction on the site. PREDICTION LEAGUE
Weather forecast
Current forecast is sunny max temp 8oC with light south westerly winds
Albion Maters
Warriors
No Warriors match this weekend but I expect that a number of the Warrior regulars will be featuring in the match at Henley. The next planned Warriors match is away to Esher next Saturday.
Ladies
The Ladies return to Championship rugby this Sunday as they travel to Richmond. They sit 2nd at present and this result could make big differences a win could move them top but a loss could move them down to 6th!
Next weekend, Sunday 20th, they will be at home with a 2pm Kickoff against Saracens.
We'll see
One of Dawsey's early achievements.
Plymouth Bred,Plymouth Born.
Plymouth Bred,Plymouth Born.
C'mon Albiiioooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
Regards,
Paul.
