WITH just three days until the opening pre-season game at home to Clifton on Saturday (3pm), we continue our month-by-month look back at the 2025/26 National One campaign.

A late Zach Clow try secured a bonus-point from a tough 60-26 defeat at Plymouth Albion.

The visitors made a bright start in front of a league record crowd of 4,631, Mike Cooke adding to Willo Bicknell’s early score.

But Iwan Jenkins cut the gap with a pair of penalties before Albion hit the front with a Ben Moa seven-pointer.

Jenkins landed after Harry Legg touched down, and it was 25-7 after Huw Taylor crossed the whitewash.

Yet Kalling-Smith and Cooke reduced the arrears to 11 before the break.

Plymouth, however, then took control in rapid order as Joel Broadhurst dotted down before Moa grabbed two more for his treble.

Aaron Tull’s first try for Rams was added to by Andrew Lamb, but another two converted tries for the hosts took them up to 60.

Jack Oulton and Gabe Mead were the scorers in Rams’ heaviest National One reverse.

Clow, though, did ensure they at least took something away from The Brickfields.

Lions mauled after early blitz

Rams responded in spectacular fashion, however, taking down Leicester Lions 73-38 at Old Bath Road.

It was the highest-scoring Level Three game for the club.

A scintillating opening quarter-of-an-hour saw the hosts 28-0 up thanks to tries from Morgan MacRae (two), Kalling-Smith and Cooke.

The latter converted all four.

Lions got off the mark as Theo Mannion added to a Jake Sterling effort.

But their opponents moved 42-7 up thanks to Clow and Luke Graham tries, plus Cooke’s boot.

Leicester grabbed scores from Max Humphreys and Fin Ogden before the break, Mannion on target after the first.

And they closed the gap to 42-26 when he repeated the trick following Diamond Ayiehfor’s bonus-point try.

Rams regained control and passed 50 as Pete Austin mauled over and Ollie Hodgson bagged his first of the campaign.

But a quickfire converted Brad McKenna brace moved Lions back within two scores at 52-38.

The hosts, though, turned on the after-burners late on as teenager Ryan Carr crossed on debut, Cooke doubled up and Bicknell collected his side’s 11^th try on a memorable afternoon.

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Earlier in the Season