ETHAN FORD was delighted he was able to end his Plymouth Albion career on a winning note against Blackheath on Saturday.

The 24-year-old played the full 80 minutes as Albion won 20-19 in front of nearly 1,700 people at Brickfields.

Ford is returning to Australia a month before the end of the season after his wife became pregnant and was told she needed to fly home before the start of April.

He admits he is going to miss Albion and playing at Brickfields.

“To finish with a win was the best situation I could have had,” said Ford, who was given the honour of leading Albion out at the weekend.

“They (Blackheath) put a few points on us in the first game (away in November), so it was good to get one back on them, definitely.

“It was a bit of a nail-biter but I think the boys toughed it out at the end. A few calls did not go our way, but we still managed to scrape through, which is good.”

He added: “With the bounce of the ball, we could easily have had two or three more tries. There’s room to improve but it was good. We’re going into the last month of rugby and I think the boys can push on and anything can happen.”

When asked what his lasting memory of Albion would be, Ford said: “I think playing at Brickfields in front of the crowd. They are awesome. They are such a vocal bunch of fans. I love playing here. I will probably miss that the most.

“We got good numbers here on Saturday and you could really hear them out there on the pitch. It was awesome.”

Ford’s day could have ended in disappointment had Blackheath’s Freddie Gabbitass, who once featured for Albion, kicked a last-gasp penalty.

“He was kicking well and I thought it was going over,” said Ford. “But luckily enough that bit of a breeze pushed it to the left.

“We would have been a bit bitter (had it gone over), as we had done all the hard work. Like I said, a few calls did not go our way, but we really put it in and I think that got us over the line.”

Although he and his wife are going back to Australia for the birth of their first child, Ford has not totally ruled out one day returning to Albion.

“Never say never,” he said. “I’ll leave my options open. I have got five years still on my visa. If the situation is right in the future with the family then it could happen.”