Robin Wedlake is one of six former Redruth players in Plymouth Albion’s squad
PLYMOUTH Albion will conclude their pre-season preparations on Saturday when they travel to National Two South side Redruth (3pm).
Albion have so far eased to victories over Exmouth (62-5), Camborne (43-12) and Ivybridge (38-3).
This weekend, though, is the last chance for new head coach Dan Parkes to make up his mind about who will start their National One opener against newly-promoted Cambridge on September 3.
Saturday’s game is one a number of Albion players have been looking forward to.
Former Redruth player Tom Cowan-Dickie in action on Albion’s last trip to Cornwall in March 2015
Plymouth currently have six Redruth old-boys in their squad – Tom Cowan-Dickie, Billy Keast, Jack Maunder, Todd Prisk, Robin Wedlake and Herbie Stupple.
There are also Plymouth connections in the Redruth camp with their coaches Marek Churcher and Pale Nonu having had spells at Albion, along with back-row forward Kyle Marriott.
Redruth had a tough 41-17 loss at Swansea last weekend in their first pre-season outing. They will be looking to be more competitive in front of their own supporters against Albion.
Plymouth, meanwhile, are keen to step up their performance from last week’s display against National Three South West side Ivybridge at Brickfields.
Scrum-half Cameron Setter, who made his comeback from injury in that match against Ivybridge, feels the fact that they did have to work hard to see off their lower league neighbours could be good for them in the long run.
“At the end of the day Albion were playing a team two leagues below and really we should have done better,” admitted Setter, whose dad, Paul, is Ivybridge’s director of rugby.
“But full credit to Ivybridge, they hung in and it will bode well for their season.
“That game, though, might have given us a kick. It was easy against Exmouth, we blew them away, and then Camborne, but then we suddenly had a blip. Hopefully, that will sort us out for the season.”
Saturday will be Albion’s first trip into Cornwall since they played Cornish Pirates in March 2015. Admission into the Recreation Ground on Saturday is £5.