Plymouth maintained their position at the top of National One with a well deserved victory against a Lions side who once again fought until the end but we were no match for a physical Albion side.

The Lions started really brightly, forcing an early turnover that was then kicked to the corner. The resulting driving maul was finished off by Joe Plunkett after just 2 minutes (5-0).

Plymouth drew level on 12 minutes, against the run of play, when Joe Bailey crashed over from close range, but another Plunkett maul try restored the Lions’ lead shortly afterwards. Theo Mannion added the extras (12-7).

The remainder of the first half belonged to the visitors though, whose scrum began to get on top of the Lions pack, eventually leading to a yellow card for Will Roberts just before the break. Two opportunistic scores from Jack Outen flanked a double from hooker Lucas Gulley. The Exeter Chiefs man scoring from a maul before he showing great power and pace to finish a nice blindside lineout move for his second. Iwan Jenkins added all five conversions in the half for a 12-35 lead at the interval.

Plymouth added a sixth score just after half time through replacement Morgan Stone, converted again by Jenkins. The Lions enjoyed far more possession and territory in the second half but failed to take their opportunities and were punished against the run of play when Stone picked and went from a breakdown for his second. Jenkins made it a 100% off the tee for the day landing his 7th conversion (12-47).

The Lions battled until the end though and were rewarded with a late consolation score when Ahren Crowley chipped cross field for Bronson Mellowes to score in the corner. Unfortunately there wasn't any more time for the Lions to chase a bonus point try.

FT 19-47

Head coach Gareth Collins commented: ''Plymouth are top of the league for a reason. They are so physically strong and we just couldn't handle that. We had some really good moments in the game though and once again it's so frustrating to fall one score short of what would have been a well deserved point.''