Record breaking win for Albion!
Plymouth Albion continued their flawless start to the National 1 campaign, annihilating Cambridge RFC in scintillating fashion. Cambridge arrived at Brickfields searching for their first win of the season following last year’s Championship relegation, but they were unable to mark their first visit to Plymouth since 2023 with a victory. Instead, Albion reinforced their status as title favourites with a staggering record-breaking 102-0 win, marking the most points and tries ever scored by the club in a single game.
It took less than 90 seconds for the first try of the afternoon. Bobby Wigginton initiated proceedings with a bruising carry up the centre of the park before freeing his hands and finding support on his inside to break the gain-line. A flurry of offloads back-and-forth allowed Jack Oulton to dart over for the score.
Albion’s next points followed closely, after poor discipline allowed Plymouth to trap the visitors deep in their half. Cambridge did well to stop the Rhys Williams led rumbling maul but were unable to prevent Captain Huw Taylor from barging his way over from close range.
The floodgates were well and truly open by the time Albion crossed for their third. Off a scrum at halfway, scrum-half Jack Oulton exploited a wide-open blindside, exposing a two-on-one that released Noah Fenton down the touchline. Fenton drew the fullback before linking back inside with Oulton on a textbook support line for his second try of the afternoon. Minutes later, the halfback turned creator. Spotting space out wide, Oulton lofted a delicate cross-field box kick for Wigginton to gather cleanly on the run. The winger expertly cut inside his opposite man, sliced through the covering defence, and turned on the jets to notch Plymouth’s bonus-point score.
Cambridge’s afternoon continued to deteriorate, as a cynical foul preventing another score saw one of their players sent to the sinbin. Wasting no time to take advantage of the extra man, Oulton’s quick tap & go was heaved out wide for Fenton’s first score of the affair. Before the restart had even settled, he was over again, this time on the receiving end of a moment of sheer magic.
Before the restart had even settled, he was over again, this time on the receiving end of a moment of sheer magic. An incredible pass from Ben Coen was riffled tantalisingly in-front of the visitor’s defensive line, which allowed Fenton to cut in off the wing and take the ball in stride, barrelling through flailing arms, leaving him with a clear run under the posts. Another successful conversion left the score at 38-0 after 30 minutes.
Cambridge soon found territory of their own for the first time all match, as their forward pack drove ever closer to the whitewash. The visitors looked certain to finally get points on the board, until prop Cameron Doak timed an interception to perfection, giving Plymouth some much-needed breathing room and instantly turning defence into attack.
Albion then looked set to score directly from a maul, but an almighty defensive stand somehow kept them at bay. The respite was brief, however, as the ball was spread wide to find Noah Fenton in acres of space to dot down and complete his first-half hat-trick. Minutes later, another moment of magic from Jack Oulton released Fenton once more, as the winger claimed his fourth score of the afternoon and the unyielding home side pushed further clear.
Plymouth managed one more before the break when Cambridge repeatedly failed to clear their line. Two crisp miss-passes found Bobby Wigginton in splendid isolation out wide, allowing the winger to trot over untouched for his second of the afternoon.
Albion showed no sign of letting up after the restart, with the lethal double-act of Noah Fenton and Jack Oulton combining once again. Breaking free down the left wing, Fenton drew the cover before popping an inside pass to allow Oulton to complete a memorable hat-trick.
Shortly after, Plymouth saw another maul drive quelled near the line, but Cambridge’s defensive resistance was short-lived. Sam Daly powered through the line and capped the host’s 11th try with a magnificent swan dive under the posts. Iwan Jenkins, marking his return from injury off the bench, added the extras.
What followed was a score destined to be shortlisted for Try of the Season when the end-of-year awards roll around. Jenkins gathered the ball inside his own half and chipped delightfully over the top. Frankie Dart gathered the bouncing ball at full tilt and immediately produced a delicate re-kick past the onrushing defence, allowing Fenton to gather the loose ball on the bounce and coast over for another five-pointer.
Albion’s set-piece dominance was rewarded once again when hooker Rhys Williams crashed over at the tail of a pulverising rolling maul. From the resulting restart, Fenton read a Cambridge pass to perfection, snatching an interception to race clear for his record-breaking sixth score of the afternoon, officially making him the highest try-scorer in a single match in Albion history.
The relentless pressure didn’t stop there. Capitalising on a grounded spill just minutes later, Fenton burst into open space once more, generously drawing the last defender to hand James Kenny a simple run-in under the posts.
Plymouth capped an historic, record-breaking afternoon with a penalty try in the dying moments after a defeated Cambridge pack dragged down another rumbling maul short of the line. The referee’s whistle signalled the end of a masterclass, sealing an utterly mind-boggling 102–0 victory.
Next Up: Plymouth Albion will look to extend their unbeaten start to six matches when they travel to face Sale FC on Saturday, 10 October, before returning to Brickfields to host Dings Crusaders on 17 October.
Match Report by Will Porter / Photos by Matt Boys and Tom Anthony
